Agra - Taj Mahal

I have a small theory about photographing iconic buildings like the Taj Mahal. As buildings are built for people to use and enjoy i think its honest to put people back in the frame. The return of the human element should bring something new to this genre of photograph. Typically and traditionally its all about getting tourists out of the way, whether its for your own holiday snaps or if you are a professional photographer, tourists not being considered particularly picturesque. Surely, there is no other building that represents this tradition of photography better than the Taj Mahal. The people in my photograph are tourists but they are Indian and that's interesting.

I want to see things represented in more contemporary ways. I am a little bored with seeing well-known subjects as if they exist in pristine isolation, smug in their perfection. The real thing is not like that. There may be a few tiles missing from the Taj; a bit of mould growing on a patch of wall somewhere. From an aesthetic point of view, these things are interesting. People are messy too and that makes for surprising and interesting pictures.

Modernism was all about perfection. Postmodernism is about imperfection. We live in a postmodern world now.