In Conversation: Mathushaa Sagthidas on 'NOT JUST BROWN, NOT JUST INDIAN'

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We’ve got a very special In Conversation this time. We’re speaking with Mathushaa (Mathu) Sagthidas, a Tamil-British fashion photographer. Mathu’s just introduced ‘NOT JUST BROWN, NOT JUST INDIAN’ to the world – an important project, funded by Getty Images, Creative Access and iStock, aiming to highlight, celebrate and tell stories about different South Asian cultures from the female perspective.

Each country is represented by three respective images in the order of: India, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka / Tamil Eelam, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Find Mathu’s work: @mathuxphotos & mathushaasagthidasphotography.co.uk

Hello! Introduce yourself, who are you? What do you do?

Hiya I’m Mathushaa (Mathu) Sagthidas and I’m a Tamil-British fashion photographer with interests in fine art, contemporary fashion and set design/ art direction. Graduated in 2021 from a Photography BA at Camberwell, UAL.

Tell us more about your photography practice and style? How did it evolve? 

It’s been quite a journey to be honest and definitely did not expect to be doing this when I was younger. I was alway quite creativity from a young age but more interested in fine art - painting, drawing and sculpture work. It was when I did a one off photography workshop for a week I found how interest it could be and then that’s when I made the decision to do a foundation - I felt really confused about university and what degree I wanted to do, and I think it’s only now I realised how okay it is to feel confused at the stage and you have so much time to discover what your passions are even after university. After doing fashion promotion in foundation, I decided to do photography for my degree (instead of fashion photography) - so I have the opportunity to really explore who I am as an artist without any limitations. So I guess it was in university, especially second year where I really discovered photography and how I use it to reflect who I am an artist and my interests. It’s been a very back and forth journey.

We're here to primarily talk about 'NOT JUST BROWN, NOT JUST INDIAN' – a unique project that's been in the works from you for a while now. What is it? How did it come about?

'NOT JUST BROWN, NOT JUST INDIAN', a project I’m excited to say was funded by Getty Images x Creative Access x iStock, w celebrations, traditions and history of south Asian countries from a female perspective. As Eelam Tamil Woman, like most other south Asians just made the assumption I was Indian as if that's the only country to exist in South Asia and I feel our cultures and traditions are often classed as one (hence the name). Working with South Asian woman from their respective countries, I wanted show parts of their stories and lived experiences. Working with these incredible woman, I really dived in deep to understand the elements of their respective culture to ensure that I showcase beautifully.

This project was something I wanted to create in university until the pandemic, so when I was given funding from Getty Images x Creative Access x iStock (end of 2021); I was finally able to bring this ideas to life - creating this and managing 6 different teams for the last 5 months has been unforgettable!

Each country focus on different aspects of it's culture. For India, we focused more on the celebration of Holi by letting the models create a Rangoli pattern; Bangalesh focused on showcasing the beauty and celebration of their New Year - Pôhela Boishakh; Afghanistan focused on celebrating family and little thing the girls in shot (who are also cousins) would do growing - such as have tea and catch up or even dance; Pakistan focus more on beauty traditions such as the influence or hair oiling and wearing Kajal; Nepal focuses on sisterhood but also the influence of caste in their culture - such as having traditional wear that reflects the caste their families are from; Sri Lanka/ Tamil Eelam focus more on the life of our grandmother and the way life was like for them back home whilst highlighting/ showcasing the beautiful differences between Tamil and Sinhala culture.

For me it was important to create this project because i wanted to share south Asian stories from the south Asian community to represent and educate those outside the community.

Waheeda Rahman-Mair, Sylheti Bangladeshi (@Waheeda_Art), a multidisciplinary artist - illustrator and animator and Asa Zaman, Mawa- Dhaka Bangladeshi (@asaaaa._.zz @asaxarts), a London based fashion illustrator, image-maker and visual artist got involved with the project because “Growing up with little to no representation of Bangladeshi people in main stream media other than about bad news and disasters mixed with people assuming I was Indian was a really confusing space to be in” and to because it was part of a “creative project solely based on showcasing Bangladeshi people and their culture”.

What was it like working on set? Was it a long process that took a ton of planning or did it naturally happen and flow?

I feel like for me it happened quite naturally and flowed. When I was in university/ studying in the pandemic I was very much used to (and still do) building my own sets using different type of fabrics (pretty saris to be honest) and props or either working on location. But of course like pretty much all shoot it does take a lot of planning, especially when working with a big team of people and models, so I felt quite used it. However when I started assisting on some commercial shoots, I realised there’s more of structure, such as a call sheet and pose board. When starting out in first year, I sorted just planned it and figured out the rest on the go. I’ve now started implementing these elements more and more - it honestly is so important, I feel shoots a little bit less stressful with these aspects in place.

When you reached out to Fuse, you mentioned you wanted to tell various stories from the cultures you've showcased here. What was it like to work with the models photographed? Did they have anything specific to say about the project to you when approached?

Working with not just the models but the entire team was quite a collaborative process - I didn’t just work with art directors, stylists and make up artists to create something that reflected their respective culture, I would with the models - each concept is really built on aspects they have grown up with, it was really important to me to showcase lived experiences. I wanted to create project where people aren’t just seeing aspects of their culture but it’s also a nostalgic memory for the South Asian community too. Each shoot was also very much about making “a lot of memories which I will never forget” Namuna Nembang, Nepali Limbu (@namii.ie), a London based stylist but also make up artist for this project.

If you were to exhibit 'NOT JUST BROWN, NOT JUST INDIAN' in your dream gallery, where would it be?

Honestly dream gallery would be The Photographers gallery - for me it would really be a full circle moment because I actually had my first industry type opportunity there - where I took part in their teen tours programme to do a talk about one of the artists they were showcasing there, when i around 16 and I’ve changed and grown so much since.

However I would also love to showcase at some other places such as British Museum, V&A, Saatchi Gallery, The Tates - more so because these are space where you see so many south Asian artefacts which were are stolen items/ art (the work I had no choice but to reference because apart my degree I had to have ‘gallery research’ There isn’t many artwork their showcase South Asia from an authentic south Asian perspective and it would be a biggest step for representation I feel.

Finally, what's next for you? Any upcoming projects you can tell us about?

To keep working on really exciting projects - some really different and some revolving around music actually - I have a few lined up so do keep your eyes peeled. I’ve also been assisting some more commercial photographers - this hands on type experience has really given me the chance to grow so much. So any up coming photographers - I would really recommend this!

Make sure you check out Mathu’s work here: mathushaasagthidasphotography.co.uk

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CREDITS & TEAMS

India (26th March 2022)
Art Direction - @radhika.photos 
Styling - @aaishah.p 
Make Up - @yasitskrishy 
Models - @shaw.22 @aaliya.choudhury @yasitskrishy
Weave pieces by @by.sapna 

Afghanistan (9th April 2022)
Art Direction/ Styling - @ha_ida 
Make Up - @saida_hoss 
Models - @fariaaa_r @susansherifi @farhat_draws @adria.pawz

Nepal (17th April 2022)
Art Direction - @suprinax 
Styling/ Make Up - @namii.ie 
Models - @namii.ie @reeyadarnalbk @ronisha_nal @rojinadarnal @suprinax 

Sri Lanka/ Tamil Eelam (23rd April 2022)
Art Direction - @bypeoni 
Styling for Sinhalese Models - @sahxni 
Styling for Tamil Models - @keertspleats
Make Up - @rebeccaraveendran
Models - @rebeccaraveendran @nirodha.perera @lourdesnavo @workbypree

Bangladesh (7th May 2022)
Art Direction - @waheeda_art 
Styling - @asaaaa._.zz 
Make Up - @voidinayah 
Models - @asaaaa._.zz @mariakayum_ @tartine___ @waheeda_art 

Pakistan (22nd May 2022)
Art Direction/ Styling - @armani_sy
Make Up - @mariumjeelani 
Models - @mariumjeelani @_bismahsaleem @henab30