If you find enchantment alluring then you will certainly be captivated by the work of filmmaker and photographer Anthony Indar who sets out to create masterpieces.
In an interview, Indar told Stabroek Weekend that he could never watch a movie without being distracted by thoughts of how it was made or the perfect lighting was achieved. Some of the films that have totally captivated him are Fight Club, Donnie Darko, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
By the time he was 15 years old, his fascination had become a hobby and he began to dream of shooting videos and taking photos.
As with many aspiring filmmakers/photographers today, his phone was his first piece of equipment. But with great determination, he was able to save money to purchase his very first camera in 2018. “Even though it was the middle of the year when I purchased my camera, it felt like Christmas,” the 21-year-old said. This, he said, opened up many avenues for adventures.
He first created some short films, which he began posting to social media. His work caught the attention of those working on the Miss Earth Guyana Pageant at the time and he was requested to create a video for their eco-project in 2018.
To date, he has shot an average of 60 films and though it is an expensive undertaking, Indar pointed out that he has been blessed with adventures, travelling and lots of unforgettable experiences. “Work never feels like work,” he said, “when you’re having fun.”
Indar noted that to achieve the best video or shot, one is sometimes required to do some dangerous stunts. Once when shooting a film for a Honda S2000, he hung out the back of a Spacio car while it was being driven. He said, however, that he was strapped in by friends who were with him. Asked whether this was a risk he would take again, he did not hesitate to say yes.
However, a major downside to his work is the reality that local artists are undervalued in Guyana, he observed, although many of them produce exemplary work that will be better valued in other countries. Because of this, he plans on someday having a production where photographers can highlight each other’s talent and provide training.
As regards filmmaking and photography, he said that he is constantly learning. At the moment, he is currently learning colour grading. Owing to his interest in contemporary art, he is often trying to find ways to incorporate it into his work.
According to Indar, his photos take an average of six to eight hours to edit, or sometimes the entire day if he decides to procrastinate. Meanwhile, his small videos take an average of three hours for editing while larger videos can take two weeks or up to a month, which is just as long as he takes to create a video.
The self-taught artist explained that most of what he knows was learnt online or from him doing his own experimenting. Every observation, wherever he is, Indar said, is something new to learn.
He has drawn inspiration from the work of film directors Quentin Tarantino and David Fincher. “I’m also inspired by a lot of physics. I’m really big on Nikola Tesla and [painter] Leonardo DaVinci,” If there was one person he could meet, he said, it would be Tesla.
However, despite his interest in Science, the talented artist was in the art stream at his alma mater, North Georgetown Secondary School. He was always sketching and once his skill was recognised, his peers flooded him with requests for help with any assignments or schoolwork that required any drawing.
Indar said while there is the Burrowes School of Art, the school has stuck to the traditional form of art and he wishes it would evolve to teach more contemporary techniques.
According to the young man, it would not be an easy thing for one to depend solely on photography as a means of and he is, therefore, currently employed at an automotive spare parts company.
Indar, who rarely does events, explained that because he often shies away from such work, there is less of an income but if he did it for the money, he would have been gone a long time. Most of his work, he said, is often considered to be crazy and outlandish ideas, but he likes to push the boundaries.
He noted that many people think of photography from a point and shoot perspective. Not many consider that they are paying for concepts, quality of work, countless hours of training, sleepless nights, and the multiple times an artist scrapped his work just to have one that displays a perfect finish.
As an artist, Indar has a project he wishes to take up someday; an action film involving local actors. The filmmaker has plans on incorporating a number of visual effects, including the creation of explosions.
He also plans to someday travel to various parts of the world, capturing the essence of the places he visits and combining them together in a montage. Guyana, he noted, will be one of the largely featured countries as it is home. His work with the camera has already taken him to places across Guyana, including Kwakwani, Leguan, Kaieteur Falls, and Linden.
In his free time, Indar practices martial arts, he listens to metal and classical music, and travels.
The photographer can be found on Facebook and Instagram @Anthony Indar.