Chothia says, "Earlier, my work was limited to India, but the Internet has opened up an international market."

For Bawa, the Net has also provided some much-needed acceptance: "My work in India was considered abstract. People would wonder about the style of my pictures. They thought I was very 'different'. Abroad, my work is considered normal." His Web site has had 25,000 page views in the last three months, with almost 60-70 mails and commercial inquiries daily.

"The only problem is checking their credibility. Luckily, the agency I sold my prints to was world famous and just the name was enough. Another problem could involve the transfer of money. But one of my father's friends collected the money from the client before we delivered the digital scans."

Two years after going online, Bawa believes there's a vast international market that the Internet can help photographers tap. "I've received invitations from agencies like Magnum, Istorm and Corbis to shoot pictures on assignments. These are very prestigious invitations and happened only via the Net." Mumbai-based Mahesh Hiremath is also among those shutterbugs who feel the Web opens a market for their images.

Photographer Atul Kasbekar, on the other hand, finds selling prints through his site bothersome: "I've sold pictures via people who have contacted me online. But the process of checking their credibility, having them wire a draft and then having someone collect the pictures makes it extremely painful. None of the Indian photographers have the facility to pay via credit cards on their site… That, I think, is a big deterrent to online buyers."

For others, the Net is too commonplace a marketplace. Darren Centofanti, an Australian photographer popularly sought after by ad agencies and fashion magazines in India, says, "I get commissioned work from my clients and I take photos that will represent their needs. I don't sell my images over the Net, I leave that to the retail type who feel their work is generic."

With pictures of high quality scanned into different sections, Darren, like many other photographers, uses his Web site as a digital brochure: "Ground work is reduced by emailing visuals and layouts about prospective jobs, and by making direct contact with ad agencies all over the world without even leaving the house. Since my site doubles as a portfolio, anyone who wants to see my work can just log on. Obviously with my job and the extensive traveling involved, it's great to be able to satisfy people's needs while being in any part of the world.

However, Bawa asserts that most customers in India prefer actual portfolios to Web sites. "I still have to lug 20 kgs to convince a client sometimes!"

For Kasbekar, the euphoria of being the first photographer online lasted only two weeks: "I haven't updated in sometime now." Others like Hiremath update their sites every quarter, while Bawa does so monthly. Most photographers also spend huge amounts of money and time labouring to get the quality and resolution right. Hiremath says, "Fred Poonawalla of Comart helped with the scanning of pictures initially. Now I have a fairly decent scanner and I do it myself."

According to Bawa, while viewers like to see "frankly, lots of girls nude," buyers online like to purchase pictures that depict Indian lifestyle -- "They want pictures of our street life, villages, elephants etc. Though now, even Indian fashion is very hot with them. I've also received $800 for clicking a picture of financial analysts in India for a US magazine."

The Net also serves as a meeting ground. Explains Chothia, who has found other photographers and like-minded people, "Today, those I respect and whose work I admire, write in to me to say how much they enjoy my pictures. A photographer in Rome recently wrote to me and I know that if I visit that place, I have a friend there."

Hiremath recommends that amateur photographers put their work online, "The photographer cannot go and meet every single creative person in every agency but he/she can surely call or email him/her to have a look at his Web site as and when required." Here, Bawa sounds a word of caution: "They should do so only if they have a large collection of pictures. Otherwise it's easy to get your reputation soiled online."

Most photographers admit to being solicited by porn sites. Kasbekar laughs off invitations to sell some of his work to porn agencies. Bawa mentions sheepishly about being contacted by desibaba.com, a popular Indian porn site, for pictures of nude models. "I don't do nudes anymore. Even Debonair has written to me six times, but I'm not interested."

Copyright issues, misuse of pictures, and having their pictures stolen are sources of annoyance for shutterbugs. Centofanti says, "I can plaster copyright all over, but that's still not going to deter people. In fact, if they want to download my images I say, good luck to them. After all the resolution quality of images on my site would only be good for four by five inches. So I don't feel much harm can be done."

But Bawa keeps an eagle eye in cyber space for his pictures and takes action when he finds them misused. "Yahoo.com used a picture of mine on their Web site. When I sent them a letter, the picture was removed immediately. I've also just written to the Canadian embassy because I've had four pictures online used by a Canadian magazine. I must marvel at how the person managed to convert my low resolution, ten by twelve inch pictures into being useable for a cover!"

But despite minor problems, the Web is definitely helping Indian photographers make inroads abroad. And at the very least, as Kasbekar hopes, their online portfolios will change the way some people view India merely as a land full of poverty and communal strife.

Links:
-- Vikram Bawa
-- Farrokh Chothia
-- Mahesh Hiremath
-- Darren Centofanti