World Photography Day: Had I not been a singer, I would have been a photographer, says Lata Mangeshkar

Bet you didn’t know this. But Lata Mangeshkar who is legendary for her singing, is an outstanding photographer. In fact there were exhibitions of her photographs when she was younger and so devoted to her Rolleiflex camera that it went everywhere with her.

“Yes I loved photography. My camera used to be my constant companion  everywhere. I’d take it with me to the studio and take pictures of my colleagues at work. I’d click my parents, my sisters and brother at home. I loved photographing the outdoors,” recalls Lataji fondly.

So skilled and adept was she at clicking pictures that it was seen as an alternative career for her. “I don’t know what I’d have done if I wasn’t a singer. But photography was definitely a feasible option. It’s a pity that the art of clicking pictures has been  replaced by digital photography. People now take all their pictures on their phone. The sheer joy of capturing cameras through the lens of an old fashioned camera is lost.”

Lataji has reams and reams of self-clicked photographs in her home. “It would require  weeks if not months to go through my photographs. Maybe someday.”