Over the past decade that photographer Pravin Talan has shot members of India’s security and defence agencies, he has rappelled down buildings, trudged knee deep in slush, taken chopper drops and dived underwater to put the spotlight on those who have our backs. It is a far cry from the glamorous pictures he had made a career shooting. Models were his subjects as photographer for FashionTV, an international lifestyle broadcasting television channel, founded in France in 1997. “I got drawn to it [photographing security agencies] organically. This is the era of psychological warfare. China floods the Internet with thousands of videos of their soldiers marching in unison. Similarly, our perception of United States’ Navy Seals is what it is because of the robust images they put out. It is power projection. But when it came to our security forces, we had very little to show.”

A Mumbai Police QRT (Quick Response Team) commando in action. “Most of my pictures incorporate Mumbai’s heritage,” says Talan