The image composer

Celebrated lensman Derry Moore is in India for new commissions.

Derry Moore, the Earl of Drogheda, is the kind of man you could easily picture with a little twinkle in his eye "" when he's in a relaxed state.

But when we meet at the Olive Bar and Restaurant he's at the end of a long day "" hours of answering journalists' questions. Besides, he's used to being on the other side of the spotlight and this must be a touch daunting.

Moore, one of Britain's most sought-after photographers, has taken hundreds of pictures of buildings, ranging from country houses in Britain to palaces in Rajasthan. He has built up an expertise in garden and architecture photography.

He has captured a quiet moment between Princess Diana and her two sons, clicked celebrities like Iris Murdoch and Rudolph Nureyev in reflective mood, framed a dreamy-eyed David Bowie lying semi-nude on his sofa.

It would be facile to try and find a single unifying theme in such a varied oeuvre just to make this profile read more glibly, but there is a motif of sorts running through the photographs Moore is fondest of himself: they evoke a time and period completely removed from the modern world.

At one point, he actually spells this out. Regarding a sunset photograph he took on the Gujarat coast "" old buildings on the shore, fishermen walking about, small boats on a placid body of water reaching out to the sea "" he says, "What I really like about this one is that there is nothing here to indicate that this is the 20th century."

The theme persists in family portraits of nawabs and princes, in shots of the interiors of the Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad (this was one of his favourite subjects, he says; he visited the palace in 1976, on the first of many trips to India) and in a lovely photograph of an incongruously magisterial-looking chowkidar in Lucknow "" who, Moore discovered, was a direct descendant of Wajid Ali Shah. "You can tell that's true "" look at that regal bearing."

There is, of course, much else on display, including lots of commissioned portraits "" high-society types in Mumbai, shy newlyweds leaning on either side of an ornately decorated pillar. Naturally Moore does celebrities too, but they're overexposed, he says.

"They've been shot from every conceivable position already. Honestly, how many more photographs of, say, Amitabh Bachchan, could you stand to see?"

Walking about the Olive garden, admiring the pictures on display, one is struck by the obvious care taken in preparing the groundwork for each image: decisions related to composition, lighting and background. It's debatable whether photography can be placed in the same artistic league as painting, but some of this work certainly makes a strong case for it.

"I have many years' experience now," Moore says, "but even today, I need time to build up a comfort level with the place where the shooting is to be done."

Many veteran photographers tend to be tetchy about digital advances. Moore isn't intolerant of new technologies but he admits that he doesn't use them himself "" "partly because digital doesn't do justice to black-and-white photography".

His instrument of choice is a Hasselblad, a longtime companion. And only around 10 per cent of the photos he shoots voluntarily are in colour. "Black-and-white pictures are much more atmospheric, versatile and last longer," he says.

Moore will be in Delhi for a week, undertaking photographic commissions "for industrialist families who would prefer not to be named right now".

He is tight-lipped about the work, except to say that the commissions are less than in the UK (reportedly $1,750 plus expenses). "But in India one is blessed with light," he quips, "It makes the work easier."