LET THERE BE PRINT - BIJOY KUMAR YATHEENDRANATHAN

To those who followed Business Standard Motoring a decade ago will be familiar with the byline Patrique May.

Patrique was as French as one could get and was living in with an Air India pilot in Mumbai. Six months of the year he would spend in India and the rest travelling around the world. During his Indian stint, he would pick up the occasional photography assignment and did a commendable amount of work with cars. Being French, he claimed that he knew his wines and would teach the unsuspecting guests how to appreciate wines.

The above paragraph is a total figment of my imagination. Patrique May never existed. It was my photographs that went carrying his name. As for the name, it was a blend of two ace automotive designers, Patrick Le Quement of Renault and James May of Ford. 

And the legend of Patrique was necessitated by the tragic demise of ace automotive photographer and my dear friend Deepak Tolani. With no other photographer around, It fell upon me to do the shoots for the magazine.

I enjoyed the stint though, so much so that I kept shooting for BSM whenever I got a chance. And I was lucky to see the transformation from film to digital and oh boy, did it make life easier. For once, you could check your image the same second that you took a photograph (well, almost…) and you could change the composition.