Arvind Hoon (b.1962) started clicking with a Click III camera presented to him on his 11th birthday. Black & White 120 was the format of the day. He managed to get his hands on his father’s Yashica in the early 80’s to shoot the odd ‘sunset or landscape’ while on vacation from the 36 exposures set aside for the holidays. Colour processing was an expensive business.
If Arvind had a choice when he joined advertising in 1984, he would have opted for his 1st passion photography. But it was not to be then.
He acquired his first SLR camera in the form of a Yashica F3 during his early working years in advertising in Bombay. While he continued to cast his optics with film, it was not as much as he would have liked to. Colour processing was still a ‘pincher’.
Advertising gave him the opportunity to work up close with the best photographers & cinematographers in India. He absorbed it all. Close to twenty years in advertising also gave him to opportunity to ‘develop’ his ‘aesthetic’ sense having worked with the ‘best art and creative minds’.
Photography always remained top of mind with him every step of the way and his vacation / occasion images always had his family complaining that it didn’t have any of the family. Mostly landscapes, animals, people and nature. He ignored the ‘digs’. The typical ‘vacation’ photographs were few and far between.
Two paradigm shifts in the early 2000’s prompted Arvind to explore the ‘photography’ space more aggressively.
Firstly, his switch to ‘consulting’ from employment provided Arvind with the ‘time’ & ‘space’ to follow his ‘photography’ dreams & become ‘a photographer at large’.
Secondly, with the advent of the ‘digital image, life became simpler. Though the ‘post processing’ dependence and manipulation made the ‘purist’ in him uncomfortable, he soon learned to ‘use’ the ‘digital tools’ to enhance his ‘point of view’.
He has been slowly but steadily been building his eclectic body of work by “casting his optics” with his ‘lens’ .The work is eclectic in nature. Abstracts derived from nature and the street. A touch of reality saturation extracted from people & places.
His work is being showcased across several galleries in Mumbai, Delhi and Gurgaon. A couple of group exhibitions are on the cards in 2009 to be followed by a solo in 2010.
Arvind is keen to show the world, his ‘point of view’.