Chennai Insider's 20 Most Influential Photographers of 2020
Their heart lies in capturing snippets of life and people through their eyes. They are your allies to seamlessly translate your raw moments into a captivating fairy-tale that is light, airy and ethereal. Presenting to you Chennai Insider’s 20 Most Influential Photographers of 2020
Amrita Samant
Mommy Shots by Amrita
×
1. How did you fall in love with photography; especially motherhood, parenting, and baby photography?
- Having been raised with a mixed upbringing (North Indian settled in the south of India) I've always had great exposure to both worlds.
- While growing up with career options of becoming either a Doctor, Lawyer or an engineer, I've always dabbled in some form of the creative art form from childhood - dance to acting to writing to photography and over time I realized I was made for doing something different, aside from the options above.
- Photography started as an interest. Capturing my sisters' twins was a part of my daily routine. That's where the comfort with babies grew beyond just loving these little humans. It was a matter of time and a strong brain-wave to figure out that I could combine two of my favorite things - Photography and Babies. Until then, I kept trying my hand at different things professionally too - dance choreography, image consulting, writing... until I found my absolute true calling. The question at hand though, was how do I be unique in this space? It started back in the days with film cameras, but that was definitely more of a fascination than a hobby. College was really more about pursuing art forms than programming (yep, that’s my background) and that’s where photography began. To view photography as a profession came from a dear friend and renowned wedding photographer today.
- Eventually, I bid goodbye to my cushy corporate job in Human Resources and decided to give my calling a go! Unlike most others who followed this path, I quite liked my corporate job, but the constant need to do something with the arts never let me settle. I never was inclined towards entrepreneurship, to be honest, in spite of seeing all my family members being entrepreneurs for a long long time. I think entrepreneurship chose me, while I chose the arts.
- Funny story: Being the third child, I barely have any pictures from my childhood because, by the time I arrived, my parents got bored of taking pictures (true story). And now I document childhoods for a living. The irony!
2. You've established a great brand and that by no means is a simple task! What were some of the biggest challenges and how did you overcome them to establish yourself?
- One of the more obvious challenges is that there is a low no barrier for entry in this field. So one has to constantly work towards creating their own unique style and keep pushing the bar to stay unique in this space. No amount of peaks can allow you to be complacent.
- The other challenges are centered on Newborn photography being a taboo when I started out 6 years ago. With a lot of education, showing behind-the-scenes photos and videos, and sharing the overall experience online, along with reassuring parents I am safe newborn certified and come with the required training.
- Lastly, babies & kids themselves are challenging subjects. Learning to work with each age group such as newborns, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, toddlers and older children takes a ton of experience and understanding children at a much deeper level. This challenge has been getting easier with experience but learning is a never-ending process with them.
3. How important is developing a unique style as a photographer? As you grow as a photographer, are you seeing your style and interests change?
- With a trend growing so quickly, there are plenty of photographers for every genre you can think of. It is now imperative to have a unique style that defines you, your brand, your approach to help you stand apart in an ocean of photographers. My journey to understand my own style has been challenging, to say the least. It's honestly the hardest thing as an artist but at the same time, you have to balance its demand when you are offering your style commercially. Case in point, today, you have to stand apart from the rest by being unique, be it your genre, your editing style, or your skill in photography.
- My interests have always and will always be in the space of children. But my style is evolving with time. I am getting to know my art at a deeper level and reflecting on my growth ever so often to hone it with time.
4. What are you currently looking forward to and what keeps you going? How are you preparing for the new normal?
- As humans, we are pretty resilient and will bounce back to normalcy soon enough. There's hope and that's really what's keeping me going at the moment. Beyond this, I draw my inspiration from my little clients, to be honest. Kids are real, genuine, honest, and funny. Conversations and time spent with them help me think like them, with no set rules, no boundaries, the whole world is a playground and we can let our minds wander without any societal rules.
- I've spent the entire quarantine working on making our services 'better' for our clients by cleaning up our current process flows and streamlining our "mommy shots experience" to be the best it possibly can be. Other tasks include revamping our website, our communication, been training ourselves to practice, or learn online to be better when we get back to work.
- The other big announcement is the launch of my school for photographers "Learn" which I created during the quarantine. Having had my own line of trial and error through the years, I've simplified the path to becoming a child photographer a LOT easier by creating resources, How-to guides, and e-books to help every photographer out there grow their potential in this field.
- Post Covid-19 measures - Clients’ safety and well-being are of prime importance to us. We're following stringent sanitization measures to ensure that we all stay protected during the photoshoot sessions. We are also providing a list of our protocols to keep everyone safe. We have taken reasonable efforts to ensure that our team members comply with applicable health and safety advisories issued by the Government of India in this regard and request the same from our clients.
Babies and the cutest shots taken by Amrita are ones to adore. Be it, the baby’s story, their mannerisms, funny expressions, your favourite theme, concepts.. she storyboards them all in evocative frames of emotion!
Vidhya Vijay
Visual Storyteller
×
1. How did you fall in love with photography?
Growing up, I was surrounded by a family of musicians, and assumed that’s what my life was going to be. I had no intention of becoming a photographer. But an evening rendezvous with a camera changed the course of my life. During one of the first indie concerts of my brother's band, they didn’t have a photographer. So they thrust a DSLR into the hands of a 17-year-old and said: “click some photos”. And that’s what I did. Something about this experience stayed with me, and I’ve been ‘clicking some photos’ for 8 odd years now.
With this as a starting point, I acquired a master's degree in visual design, and have had the privilege to work with several brands that trust me as their storyteller. Kalpa Druma, Margazhi Designs, Aavaranaa, Himalaya baby care to name a few. I'm also extremely welcoming to couples and musicians who come to me with their stories and ideas to be translated into visuals.
2. How important is developing a unique style as a photographer? As you grow as a photographer, are you seeing your style and interests change?
Over the years, my perspective on photography has aged with me and the only way I’ve learned to do this is by empathizing. I try to empathize with the subject I photograph and try to document that in its truest form. You could say that documentation is my style of photography - without exaggeration, and true to its purpose. I look at Photography as a powerful tool for communication. Its imperative for a photographer to keep learning and exploring newer subject matters to be able to find their own ideologies and thereby their own style.
3. What would you say is the best part about your job and what are the challenges that come with it?
Commissioned or non-commissioned, all of it speak to my interest and that’s the best part about the job. The challenges were present right from the start with questions raising on whether this could be an apt profession for a woman, sustenance, career growth, financial stability etc. But, none of this would stay as roadblocks when we are constantly learning and have a passion for art. That is what keeps me going.
4. You seem to have the ability to make the subject relax and reveal a candid and natural side to them through your photography. Do you have any tips to achieve this?
When we have a tool that can document things and make it look so close to reality, I prefer keeping the subject as it is without exaggerations. I still cherish the photographs my dad has taken during our family trips and functions at home. They are so memorable because of the innocence it carries. I try to bring that kind of flavor to my body of work.
5. What keeps you going? Who or what inspires you?
Learning new art forms has always fascinated me because it gives me purpose. One art form always leads to the other. Like how music lead me to pursue photography, photography helped me explore digital design. I now take up branding projects where I do the design and photography for the brand. In fact, for Aavaranaa, I even worked on a jingle for their theatrical ads in collaboration with a brilliant musician, artist, Susha. I’m always in the lookout for learning more and more, as we are all a work-in-progress.
Passion with a purpose defines Vidhya’s pursuit. Music lead her to photography. Photography paved way for her to explore digital designing. Art forms embrace her as she embraces any art form as a story-teller.
Subbu
Say Cheese Captures
×
2. How important is developing a unique style as a photographer? As you grow as a photographer, are you seeing your style and interests change?
1. Can you tell us about Say Cheese Captures team? To you, what is photography?
It was about a decade ago when social media was tending in India and I (Subbu) was attracted to it like any other. During that time I was traveling across India via road with a bunch of light-minded people from Chinmaya Mission. It was then I held my first DSLR camera of friends and started taking pictures. But that's not the exciting part, after we returned there was a software called PICASA which I used to edit the trip pics and people started commenting and sharing my work. From there the journey began and never turned back, its been 6 years since SAY CHEESE CAPTURES. Now we are a team of 6 people capturing weddings across the county.
To me personally, photography is bringing something to life even if one had not witnessed it. I choose wedding photography because you can find all emotions under one roof and adding to it is amazing food.
2. How important is developing a unique style as a photographer? As you grow as a photographer, are you seeing your style and interests change?
Style is something as important as the camera is to a photographer. I say this because over a period of time Clients come to us seeing our style of work. If we are not consistent in a style then you are like the drop-in ocean and the style is the pearl. We are Say Cheese Captures use lights & colors and follow the same pattern for styling.
3. What would you say is the best part about your job and what are the challenges that come with it?
The best part of the job is the happiness and trust that we build with my clients. When they see their pictures the happiness in their faces leads us to more happy faces(clients). if you ask challenges that we face is the time schedule of every wedding. Indian weddings never happen on time, we are the first to come and last to go.
Subbu started Say Cheese Captures 6 years ago with his niche being wedding photography. Now he is with a team of six people capturing and documenting wedding memories across the country.
Sriram Raghu
Signatures by Sriram Raghu
×
1. How did you get into photography?
A typical mechanical engineer from SASTRA university. I landed myself in an IT MNC and did not like what I was doing since it was not my core field. I had been a part of the photography club even during my college days and that is where my passion for photography was ignited. Before college, I am not sure if I had a decent camera too. Before becoming full-time, I was a part-time wedding photographer and I chose to do 1 or 2 weddings a month.
Plunging into wedding photography is impossible when you are trying to be different. It just so happened when one of my friends wanted me to click his sister’s wedding. I am sure that many current generation photographers have come across this situation which eventually gave them a breakthrough.
2. As you grow as a photographer, do you see your style and interests change?
Style is very important because every client has a different expectation with respect to their wedding coverage and they should know what they would get when they hire you. It is very important to develop a style for yourself and the same should be liked by the client too since they pay you. I don’t think the basic style will change, but we all evolve and get inspired when the network grows.
3. Favorite camera/lens combination?
CANON with 15-30 & 70-200 mm lens
4. Has photography influenced you as a person?
Photography has changed me a lot and it is all positive. When we have the ability to make someone happy with our pictures, it definitely is a euphoric feeling. When I can see something beautiful, I wish that it should be shared with the world too. I basically have my camera to communicate my feelings to the world.
Be it tear drops and excitement of brides, dreamy shots or unconditional love of grandparents and friends, Sriram has an evident penchant for capturing all real emotions in still shots. It reminds you of a fleeting moment frozen in time.
Anita Kamaraj
Food and fashion photographer
×
2. What is your inspiration as a photographer?
1. What types of photography have you explored so far, and what would you like to in the future?
I have explored most of the genres of photography. Starting from street till automobile. But I found my calling in food and fashion. I want to explore more in food photography, I want to create amazing commercial advertisements for clients so that people from Chennai don't have to go all the way to Bombay for it.
2. What is your inspiration as a photographer?
I have always loved photography, it started with a polaroid camera, it was magic. The idea of freezing frames and revisiting memories touched me.
3. You have mentioned that you are self-taught. How challenging was your road to learn and establish yourself?
It was tough. Without having a background of photography, with no guidance or mentor. I struggled to establish myself. Rejections were constant. But it got better when I started being consistent in work and active on social media. I haven't seen youtube tutorials either, how i learnt was mostly practice and experience working with few photographer friends.
4. What are you currently looking forward to and what keeps you going?
I am looking forward to learning more about Food photography, I am looking forward to traveling to many places which will educate me more about colors and palates, opening up a food studio, one of a kind in Chennai. Fingers crossed. It sounds too cliche but yes, my work keeps me going. Even if I am having a bad idea, photographing something will make me forget what I am worried about. I am grateful for that, I am grateful that I get to say I love my job.
A self taught photographer and a great one at it, Anita’s interests revolve around food, fashion and people. With great aspirations and overcoming various barriers, Anita has solely established a sought-after brand for herself. She is quite the inspiration you need!
Rahul Ravindran
Freelance Photographer
×
1. To you, what is photography? How did you fall in love with photography?
I am an engineer by profession and working for an MNC company, Photography started as a hobby and right now I am a freelancer doing it as a part-time. For me, photography is all about communicating your perspective on how you see the world.
I liked clicking pictures right from my childhood days but when I started to get recognized for my work that's the point where I started to spend more time and ultimately end up falling in love with the things that you do. After finishing my UG, I started working for an MNC company with that salary. I bought a DSLR & started clicking my friends, families, streets, and fashion shows. Slowly I wanted to know where I stand so I participated in photography competitions and won a couple of them, then only I realized that I needed to become a photographer.
2. How important is developing a unique style as a photographer?
Yes, That's the most important thing for a photographer, your signature style is your defining mark on your photography and your own unique perspective that you share with the world.
In a country like India where the population is more, we can see 3 out of 10 people with a camera. Therefore your style and creative ideas make you stand out from the crowd.
3. Your favorite camera/lens combination?
Currently, my favorite is the Sony alpha series cameras. At this point, I am using 85 & 50 for Portraits, 70-200 for events, and 16-35 for the street.
4. Has photography influenced you as a person?
Yes, it has. Learning how to step out of my comfort zone, to be patient and most of all to be grateful and happy to be able to pursue an art that gives me immense joy.
A drone photographer who enjoys the aerial view of things, Rahul is an engineer and a part-time photographer who has unique perspectives and is passionate about capturing his perfect shot!
Rakesh & Waseem
Founders - Made in Mono
×
1. How did you start Made in Mono?
Rakesh Prakash, and I - Waseem F Ahmed, together founded Made in Mono after having been in the industry as leading photographers for almost a decade each! The goal of merging two brands was to bring together the best in the business and create a super team that could become the very best in the country, and make amazing memories for many more beautiful people out there. We both at the very beginning of our careers became photographers and wedding photographs in particular purely by chance. Having been encouraged by the feedback we got for the few weddings we did, we went on to specialize in it, creating our own distinct identities and establishing our brands along the way.
2. How important is developing a unique style as a wedding photographer? As you grow, are you seeing your style and interests change?
Change has always been a part of how we improve ourselves with each passing year. We learn from the experience, understand people and their emotions better and in turn create better images with every passing day. But at the very core of this, we have come to the point where more than a distinct "style", there is an understanding of what is important to the family, and so we now focus on creating images that tell their story perfectly.
Styles might change, but the stories we capture will last forever. This keeps us pushing ourselves to be better wedding photographers every day.
3. What would you say is the best part about your job and what are the challenges that come with it?
The best part is that we get to meet such amazing people and build relationships with them. It is a job that puts us in the middle of the most important days of their lives and with it comes a sense of bonding. We go in as photographers and come out as friends. Of course, our work also takes us to some of the best locations in the world!
Challenges, well the only main challenge is fitness. We need to be on our feet, running around for days at a stretch sometimes even without sleep. But once you get used to it, you learn to modify your workflow and make it easier as time passes by. Apart from that, I would say we love our job! It is probably the best job in the world!
Pioneers of vibrant wedding Photography, Made in Mono are a dream team for wedding photography. Prior to Made in Mono, the founders, Rakesh and Waseem were both each leading photographers for almost a decade each.
Rohan & Puja
Rohan Mishra Photography
×
1. How did you start your venture? Why wedding photography?
Our passion for wedding photography is grounded in the pure joy of celebrating all the amazing and different forms of love which we get to see only in a wedding. Being a couple gives us an edge over other photographers because we completely understand how big and important this particular event is for all couples. The amount of preparation that goes into bringing this single day to life (particularly in Indian society) is commendable.
For us, photography is like meditation where our creative mind unwinds and lives in the moment. Primarily, a photographer is someone who needs to be constantly aware of the present, that ultimate moment and nothing else matters. Letting go of all the remembrances of the past and hindrances of the future, his conscience is only conscious about the present. In other words, or in much simpler terms, he/she is meditating. The Pure state of consciousness is very much meditation. The feeling of creating memories for our clients which they will relive their whole life was one of the reasons to get into wedding photography.
Photography also gave us a chance to meet and be friends with such lovely people around us. We feel fortunate to be a part of one of the most important days in their life. We love traveling — I remember those days when I had a Sony 8 MP Point and Shoot which I used to capture the beauty around. It was then when my wife Puja sensed a keen interest in me towards photography, and finally, the day came when I got my first DSLR Nikon D3100 as my birthday gift. There was a whole new world that opened for me to explore and I left no stone unturned to take it to the next level. After getting recognition on various Nature photography-related platforms, I wanted to explore people photography and thought about what can be a better option than shooting a wedding.
With Puja’s experience in advertising, styling, ideation, and my command over the camera and lighting techniques, we decided to blend our common interests together to take it to the next level and that’s how “Rohan Mishra Photography” was born.
As time went on, we invested in our gear – and were able to start taking up projects professionally. From there on, there was no looking back!
2. How important is developing a unique style as a wedding photographer? As you grow, are you seeing your style and interests change?
Developing a style of your own takes time and keeps evolving with your experience. It’s an outcome of multiple factors like your preferred focal length to cover a story, lighting, composition, timing, post-processing, etc. There is always a margin of improvement in all these areas but our core lies in capturing real authentic moments edited in a clean/ true to life manner to stand the test of time.
During a typical wedding, our pictures are a combination of the below styles:
- Documentary Style Photography: Real, authentic moments that convey the story of the wedding day
- Emotive & Fun-filled: Moments captured in a non-directional manner
- Artistic: Creating something extraordinary in an ordinary situation
3. What would you say is the best part about your job and what are the challenges that come with it?
For us, the best part of being a wedding photographer:
- Is to be the storyteller of the most important day of our client’s life
- Capturing raw and authentic emotions at its best
- With every wedding, a portion of our individual persona is also delivered to the client
- Meet Amazing People and Build Relationships
- Expand Your Cultural awareness buy being a part of multi-cultural weddings
Facing challenges and overcoming them is one of the key pillars for personal and professional growth. We all know that weddings can never be planned. Unexpected delays and changes in the flow of the event are inevitable. Meeting and exceeding client expectations in such uncertain scenarios is always challenging and this is where your experience counts to adapt to the current situation and create the best out of it!
4. What keeps you going?
Being one of the Nikon Expertise, I got a chance to share my experience and knowledge with a larger audience across the nation. The feeling of giving back to the community cannot be matched.
Initiatives like these and the hunger of creating something new in our next shoot keeps us rolling!
Husband + wife photography duo from India who enjoy narrating the story of people in love through the reels of a camera. Their vision is to touch people’s lives through their craft.
Akshaya Vaidyanathan
Founder - Weddings by Poo Stories
×
Akshaya is a professional photographer based out of Chennai, India, specializing in weddings, fashion, architecture, commercial products, and food photography. She was mentored by Mr. Iqbal K Mohammed while studying Photography from Light and Life Academy.
"If I had to explain my obsession with photography, There are two pillars that create a memory: a story and the emotions behind it. More often than not, there are different perspectives to a story, and while some of the details might get a little hazy for you to remember, what still makes you smile or laugh with wonder is the strong sense of emotion you felt at that moment" says Akshaya.
She has worked with brands to document and even help build their aesthetic style, and this has helped her to experiment with different genres and pushes her out of the comfort zone, while weddings speak to her soul.
1. To, you what is photography? How did you fall in love with photography?
To me, photography is the ability to be able to narrate a story through visuals. I clearly remember I was watching a team of photographers document my cousin's wedding 9 years back. It was amusing to me how this team’s output is the only source of proof as to how someone’s big day was celebrated
The whole fact of how timeless photographs are and how they are proofs of showing different generations the way someone lived. Photographs told me how my parents grew up and photographs are the only source I can tell my next generation as to how I lived. The whole fact of photographers being able to tell someone’s life story and make memories through visuals, clearly excited me to get into this. Freezing moments excited me.
2. "Poo stories" is very catchy! How or why did you come up with that name?
I was very clear about one thing when I started photography I wanted my brand to have an identity of me but it shouldn’t be too straight forward. I had my best friend from college design my logo with just a couple of keywords I had given her. The moment I saw the logo I knew it needed to have my name but then my actual name seemed too blah and that’s when Poo Stories happened. My two soul best friends from college used to call me Poo ( till date neither me nor them have any idea how they came up with that name) somehow the logo and Poo Stories (stories obviously because of my pure love for saying stories through visuals) came about. I am also a very bad conversation starter so I thought naming my brand this would by itself help start a conversation because everyone is curious to know what it means. Today after 5 years people in the industry know me as Poo and not as Akshaya.
3. How important is developing a style as a photographer? As you grow as a photographer, are you seeing your style and interests change?
To be very honest I don’t believe in having a particular style. I at times love it when people are not able to look at an image and guess it’s mine. It gives a sense of being creative and exploring every time. More than having a style I feel like one must develop a habit of exploring being open to new ways of photographing but still keep true to why you started what you started and own individuality. I like it when I get to shoot fashion one day, document weddings another day and then one-day shoot interiors or food. It’s about knowing the art form well over just focusing on one particular style. I enjoy photography as a whole than just one part of it. Since I don’t focus on a particular style I see myself growing every shoot. Every shoot I do I try and make sure it’s not similar to the previous one. Even when I go back to shoot for the same brand and they are ok with repeating the concept I prefer tweaking it differently and come with new ideas to let the brand grow. End of the day an entire brand's identity visually is in my control so I don’t find it fair to give two different brands the same outlook or two different collections of the same brand different outlooks. I thrive to create curiosity than stereotype things.
A professional photographer specializing in weddings, fashion, architecture, commercial products and food photography. With a unique brand identity of her own, Akshaya has worked with various brands to build their aesthetic style.
Siva Raj
Lights 'n Shadows by Siva
×
"Photography is a story I fail to put in words"
1. To, you what is photography? How did you fall in love with photography?
During my college days, we used to go on trips to the mountains often and that’s when I started using the Kodak film camera which was very dear to me. We were heading to the same place for every trip but the perspective of my photographs kept changing and it surprised me every time. Like any other engineer I got into an IT job and bought my first DSLR. I started to save my salary for traveling and I felt like my whole purpose of being is to photograph nature and places. I would probably say that it was then I found myself unfold as a photographer. And at some point, I decided to take up photography for full time, and it’s been 4 years now. I feel very happy about the decisions I made, so far so good. And I chose wedding photography for a simple reason because be able to make money and also have a profession that I would love doing day in and day out.
Wedding photography has its own charm of capturing real emotions and I love the fact that I’m able to witness and be part of so many weddings and good times. Every wedding is unique and has it has a new story to be told.
2. How important is developing a style as a photographer? As you grow as a photographer, are you seeing your style and interests change?
I like keeping my work as natural and as simple as possible, which has always been my key. Also playing with natural light excites me, I’ve never used artificial lights on my photographs so far. People who come to me always tell they love how I keep my pictures simple and neat, later which has been my trait and style which happened without any effort. By which I understood that to have your own style of photography is always important as it conveys the way you see it or the perspective.
3. What would you say is the best part of your job and what are the challenges?
I would say that after all photographs are meant to be cherished and relived the very same moment on a different place and time if you are able to bring back the same feeling then that’s a win. So for me when I see my clients (bride & groom) and their family in joy while seeing the printed pictures I feel the most satisfied. 2019 has been the best year because I had an opportunity to travel outside India to shoot a wedding, so the same thought that someone has chosen me from another country for the kind of work I deliver gave me the best feeling.
As happy and delighted my job might feel the real challenge comes about sustaining and building a small place here for oneself, I feel these are the years where there are many new photographers booming. Social media is playing a major part which is giving us a wide space to spread our work on a larger scale, one of every twenty profiles would be a photographer. Therefore to stand unique over a mass group is the biggest challenge.
Siva enjoys wedding, landscape and travel photography. He is unique for his effortless minimalism and simplistic style of photography to keep the subject as natural as possible.
Sindhu Mohanraju
Visual Narrator
×
1. To, you what is photography? How did you fall in love with photography?
Photography to me is a tool I use to express art, emotions, or anything I feel. I have always liked sketching, painting, cartoons and hence was always keen on taking up a career course relating to the same. I did Fashion Communication from NIFT Chennai, honestly, I bought my first camera because it was compulsory to have one for my photography class. I started clicking pictures of my friends just for assignments but later it turned out to be something I really enjoyed doing. I wouldn't say I had a specific moment that made me decide, but just photography became my favorite way of expressing what I had in mind. A bunch of college assignments led to my love and interest in photography.
2. How important is developing a style as a photographer? As you grow as a photographer, are you seeing your style and interests change?
One's style really depends on what they see and like as a person. In fact, all photographers do develop their own style over the years. Developing a style as a photographer will help you be identified very easily. In so many instances I look at a picture on Instagram and even before seeing who posted I can say whose work it belongs to. That's when you know you have made an impact on your pictures. Personally I have always tried to bring in the design background I have in all my commercial photography projects. This has made me experiment a lot, so my style has gradually changed over the years, As a photographer, I have always liked experimenting and in fact love the process of how my style evolves and changes as I grow.
3. What would you say is the best part of your job and what are the challenges that come with it?
When my work puts a smile on somebody's face, I feel on top of the world. Be it a wedding portrait, a fashion shoot, or just a casual portrait session with a friend, when a picture turns out the way just like the visual in my head, it gives me almost pleasure. Challenges, firstly I would say about how to date people do not take photography as a serious profession but just a hobby. Initially, it got to me but I have had immense support from my family and friends and since then there has been no turning back. I also face the problem of not always achieving a good output and it's okay to not always be creative. At times like that, I just take a small break and jump back in when some idea strikes me.
4. What keeps you going? Who is your inspiration?
I think for now my motivating factor is that I get to visit so many new places, meet people from different cultures, and documenting that is something I would never want to give up. The artists, clients, couples from weddings I meet on a daily basis at work inspire me in so many ways. I have got the opportunity to work with some of the finest photographers in Chennai. To name a few Vidhya Vijay and Akshaya Vaidyanadhan have been super supportive since day one. Supporting fellow artists and receiving the same has made me a much better person.
With a design background and a Fashion Communication degree from NIFT, Sindhu has experimented with varying genres of photography. There is abundance of art and creativity in her shots.
Ajay Krishnan
Founder - Aju Photography
×
1. How did you begin your journey with photography?
My background is that of an engineering student who passed out from PSG College of Technology in 2011. Though I went on to work for an IT giant for three and a half years, I found my true calling in photography. From 2012, I parallelly shot weddings while working. I bid goodbye to the corporate world and became a full-fledged wedding photojournalist in 2015.
To me, photography is not merely capturing reality on film but is a life-form of its own and I nurture it, relish it, indulge, and live on it. Day in and day out.
My journey in photography began way back in 2011 when my friends gifted a camera for my birthday. I was exposed to the exciting world of photography and I started a Facebook page to share my photographs. With the likes, follows and the interest that ensued, I began to learn more about the techniques in photography.
2. How important is developing a style as a photographer?
In my opinion, a photographer doesn't necessarily need to develop a unique style. What we think is a style, changes as time evolves. With the new techniques and standards in photography to be met and the expectations of different clients to be fulfilled, a unique style isn’t required. I never know what is in store for me in the next moment. So the situations and the emotions in an event help build my style.
Weddings fascinate me, as it gives me an opportunity to interact with the couple and their families, understand their dream and make it a reality. The bond with the client and their families doesn't end there and continues after that too. The best part about the job is to be able to document the raw emotions of tears of joy and smiles of love. There is no greater joy than our clients considering us as one among their family, engaging us through conversations, introducing us to their loved ones, and expressing their true self unmindful of the cameras around them.
3. What are you currently looking forward to and what keeps you going?
We have been part of big and small weddings in the past. Though big weddings have all the grandeur effect, intimate weddings were the ones where true emotions were expressed. There have been circumstances where there would be minimal time to shoot the personal moments of the bride and the groom, but with intimate weddings, people tend to let out their real emotions unmindful of the camera’s presence. With the current situation and the trend of intimate weddings which will follow suit, we are looking forward to documenting the real moments and heartfelt emotions as the event unfold naturally.
The feedback that we receive from our clients and the happiness they express when they see the photographs. keeps us motivated. There have been instances where the clients have called to inform that, they were able to relive the moments from their big day, even years after the wedding. The opportunity to quench my creative thirst in an event, at the same time be able to satisfy the client in terms of the dreams of their big day definitely keeps me going.
An engineer who bid a goodbye to corporate world in 2012 to become a full time photographer and capture different stories through his lens. He believes in capturing myriad of emotions in the best possible way.
Radha Swami
Founder- Weddings by Radha Swami
×
1. How did you begin your journey with photography?
I am a self-taught photographer (HAIDA filters India)mentor from Varanasi, India, I am a painter first, who did my Bachelor and Masters in Fine Arts in painting with a gold medal in both courses from faculty of visual arts, Banaras Hindu University. I am into photography for the last 14 years. I started my journey in 2005 with an SLR camera & still learning every day. I absolutely in love with all kinds of art including photography. It cultivates an admiration for mother nature and human thoughts. Most of the time I work (click) for my own satisfaction, being a candid photographer I never tried capturing faces and atmosphere of the places rather I always captured the thoughts and emotions. I don't express myself through words, rather I prefer that people should know me through my artwork.
Photography is an art and I am an artist. I see every photograph as a painting.
I have been into photography for 15 years. At that time I was very young to understand the seriousness of photography, the thing that attracted me the most then was nature/flower photography, I started practicing with macro photography.
2. How important is developing a style as a photographer?
I love to draw focus towards a single subject and avoid clutter, be it street or any other category and I consider it as a style that makes your subject pop in the picture. It is very important to create your own style as I believe a photo as a painting and a painter is always known for his style. Interests got to change every time. For example: I started with macro photography and now I'm much more interested in playing with light and composition.
3. What would you say is the best part about your job and what are the challenges that come with it?
The best part of my job is that I really enjoy doing it. I can do it all day without any break. It fills divine energy in me. One of the challenges that come in this profession is satisfying your client. Normally clients show references and expect the same result but as an artist, I never like to copy.
4. Who or what inspires you and keeps you going?
Mother nature is the first who always inspires me to go out and click. There are many great photographers in this list but the one who really inspired me was Prashant Godbole sir. He is the master of streets in my view. Than Raghu rai sir and some from other international professionals like Steve McCurry sir, sebastião Salgado, Joey Lawrence and many more. The curiosity of knowing people/culture/festivals and travel different destinations keep me going
A self-taught photographer who works for his own satisfaction. He believes photography is like a painting through which you express your emotion. Mother nature inspires his work.
Vasudevan Vijayan
Shots by Vasudev
×
1. To you, what is photography? How did you begin your journey with photography?
Photography is my first love! It's very much safe to say that I fell in love with it right from the time I know there is something called photos! My father was a photographer so that's by birth in blood! I further pursued my love by joining Light & life academy, Ooty! I am into weddings, fashion, products, and kids photography.
2. How important is developing a style as a photographer?
At this point, I would definitely say that its mandatory to keep upgrading our style as a photographer! Everything changes over time like as well people taste changes over time! Our uniqueness is something that would get back clients! Also, there are many photographers in the industry so having your own style stands out in the crowd!
3. What would you say is the best part about your job and what are the challenges that come with it?
Creating memories and being a part of someone's big day is beautiful, isn't it? That's the sole reason I love my job! At times there are challenges too, everyone has a different perspective! So no complaints!
4. You seem to have the ability to make the subject relax and reveal a candid and natural side to them through your photography. Do you have any tips to achieve this?
I personally get to know the couple before the shoot! We catch up for a coffee or something and make sure the couple is comfortable with us also this interaction usually gets the couple excited and we discuss how excited they are about their big day! With this little conversation, we get the spice of getting candid at the event. Everything is natural and is pure love!
Vasudev is into weddings, fashion, products and kids photography. His unique candid shots stand out from the crowd and he even personally understands every couple before wedding shoots! How cool is that?
Harini Sarathy
Portrait Photography
×
1. How did you begin your journey with photography?
I graduated from Ethiraj college with a commerce degree. I had it planned out - complete a professional qualification, work for a big corporate, and keep climbing the ladder there. Fortunately, during this journey, I became a photographer.
Photography, to me, is a precious time machine that captures slices of life and my only way of expression. This was my only escape during my pressing 12th board examinations time and after every dissatisfying day at work.
From being a hobbyist in photography during high school to helping my friends with their social media pictures to discover the world of photography especially portraits, there's nothing else I wanted to possibly do. Initially, my dream of becoming a photographer was fuelled by curiosity to know what this was about but when I started creating portraits, I understood that I could let them into my imagination and show how I perceive them and all the other imperfect yet beautiful attributes that make them, who they are. It's been a beautiful and very gratifying two-year journey. So many small yet distinct moments like these make me want to be a better photographer, every day.
2. How important is developing a unique style as a photographer?
The way in which we perceive what's around us is different to each person and that's what makes the photograph you create, extremely special. The vision itself is unique and I strongly feel we should never deviate from that to fit into trends. As for me, in these two years, I've seen my style change multi-folds. The more I delve deep and find inspiring artists the more my interests change. I believe we only keep evolving into a better version of ourselves.
3. What would you say is the best part about your job and what are the challenges that come with it?
The best part about my job is the people I meet. Apart from fluctuating hours of work and effective communication skills, a detailed understanding of the clients' expectations, and being able to give their ideas a form and presenting it to them just like how they envisioned it whilst holding onto my style is a challenge. This is a very fine line between getting constant projects from them to never hearing from them again.
From being a hobbyist in photography during high school to now establishing her presence and artistic work, Harini has been propelled by the curiosity to discover and grow. Architecture , street and food photography top my list of genres that she wants to explore!
John George
Nature photographer / Visual story teller
×
1. To you, what is photography? How did you begin your journey with photography?
I'm an outdoor person. I love cycling and exploring places, and capturing the scenes along the way is what I love to do. It helps me to relax and be in a different zone where I can freeze certain moments, especially sunsets and sunrises. The reason for mostly shooting landscape/ nature photography is because of my surroundings. I started photography by taking my cousins' wedding photos and getting appreciated for that. Also, I capture almost all my images on my Phone, Oneplus 5 this has helped in always being able to capture a moment. I haven't traveled much except for being in the Nilgiris for quite some time due to my work. So the sunsets there always make me want to share it with the world. I run a small agri-tech based startup called Mechcreatio Industrial Solutions where we design and develop technology that is affordable and accessible to the majority of the Indian Farming Community.
2. How important is developing a style as a photographer?
In the current scene of photography, I believe it's true essence is lost in the name of gaining likes and followers, sadly. It's always about capturing what's trending and hot. To me, I want to personally make sure you feel the mood of the image. And transport you for a brief moment to the place I captured. Over time I feel my storytelling and presentation have changed.
3. What are the challenges?
Since it is my passion, I'd say the biggest challenge is balancing work and photography. But I make sure to catch the sunset wherever I am. The best part of my job is that I get to be in places like the Nilgiris and explore its interiors and hidden routes.
John’s social media handle Jo_graphy quite tells you his photographic aspirations. In awe of “Geo”graphy, John has built a repertoire of his picturesque outdoor clicks. Chasing sunsets and dreams!
Karthik Yadav
Founder - Yadhu Photography (Weddings)
×
1. To you, what is photography?
"Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it". That's photography for me. I think it happened to me like magic.
2. How important is developing a unique style as a photographer?
Personally, I wouldn't like to tag my pictures into a specific "style". Nobody can force anybody to create a certain style. It purely comes out of work experience. With the combinations of lessons learned, techniques, skills, I am sure, we can figure out what's our strength and what works the best for us down the lane after a few years.
During Events I am turned into a hunter, try to click the moments with all my heart and soul (Our Yadhu Photography tag line: At the Heart of Every Frame ), and I am sure, it has served me well until now 🙂
I always have this urge to hone my technical skills, right from choosing my lens till post-production. As I grow, yes, I think my interests are changing. Changes are inevitable and change is the rule of nature.
3. What would you say is the best part about your job and what are the challenges that come with it?
I always like to surround with positive, fun-loving people, and especially in marriages, the vibes are extremely infectious. I also like to connect with people from various backgrounds, ethnicity etc. And the brownie point is, that we are blessed to be a part of someone's D - day of their life.
There is always some kind of challenges everywhere. We say a new day, a new life every new year. But for me, it's a new day, new life every day. it's no joke. During weddings, challenges are real-time.
At the heart of every frame, Yadhu Photography is not just Karthik’s passion, but also an obsession and addiction. Karthik loves to travel, trek, learn new skills, and is also a cricket fanatic.
Akash Lakshminarayanan
Freelance Photographer
×
1. To you, what is photography?
It is magical how photography can change a person completely and help him/her grow. It would not even be a piece of exaggeration if I say “Photography teaches life”, It involves lots of travel, having to encounter lots of strangers, convince them and most importantly make them feel home in front of the camera and demands a lot of skills. If I can strike a conversation and make a stranger completely comfortable with me, it would be because of the experiences that I have acquired from my father and photography. So it always takes more than the technical knowledge to make a good photograph and these skills are cultivated by photography over time. So it is this magic that I made me fall even harder for photography.
On a funnier but serious note, it also gives me a lot of stories that I can tell my children as bedtime stories.
2. As you grow as a photographer, are you seeing your style and interests change?
Yes, I do notice and I firmly believe that the changes are part of the evolution that any photographer goes through and it is inevitable. I enjoy making street and wedding photographs at this point in time and I am really curious to know what the future holds in stores for me. I have seen myself grow over these years especially because of the people who urge me to observe more and the contents that I consume like photographs, movies, film posters. After all, photography is all about the shifts in the perspective because of consistent practice in observing
3. What genres of photography have you explored so far and what do you wish to explore in the future?
I have always had the desire to try various genres and learn forms of photography right from the beginning. Fortunately, I have had the right opportunities to explore street, wedding, product photography, and a few others. One of my several goals on my mind right now is to document the heritage that is associated with various Tamil literature and temples in Tamil Nadu.
4. Favorite camera/lens combination?
I have always wanted to explore more with Sony mirrorless cameras and Sigma 35mm 1.4 art lens. Predominantly, all the pictures that I have made are with Canon 6D Mii and 24-70 f/4 lens. In my opinion, a camera is just a tool and what matters the most is contracting the required skills and I am still a work in progress.
Being as young as a college student with exams and projects does not deter Akash from channelising his talent and passion to explore various forms of photography ranging from street, wedding to product photography. His goal is to document the heritage associated with Tamil literature and temples.
Vipin Vijayan
Founder - Vipin Photography
×
1. Tell us about yourself and your brand?
I am Vipin Vijayan and I own the Brand ‘Vipin Photography’ established since 2010! We are a team of 14! I would rather say we are a family of 14!
I have always been passionate about photography! Apart from that, I am more into sports especially cricket!
Photography has always been my thing! Right from the very beginning! I used to help my dad with album making and stuff like that back when I was in my teens! Eventually, I got into photographing and fell in love with creating memories! To date, I have done around 750 plus weddings! I am glad I could create memories that they will cherish forever.! Along with weddings, I am into kid’s photography for my personal interest! I have also explored product photography, jewelry, and fashion photography!
2. As you grow as a photographer, are you seeing your style and interests change?
Definitely! Each and every photographer has his or her own kind of style! I am sure that style is something that stands out! I personally have seen the change in style and likes in my own photography! Each day I wake up thinking I should create a unique style! And each wedding I try to add some uniqueness so people get to see that we don’t stick to one particular style! Change is required!
3. What are you currently looking forward to?
Currently, between all these pandemic I am just looking forward to shooting some nice weddings with small gatherings! I guess this is the new normal! Usually, I do shoots with 10-15k attendees! Trying to find a positive mindset in this pandemic is what keeps me going right now!
Established in 2010, Vipin under his brand has done over 750 weddings. Apart from wedding photography, Vipin has also explored kid’s photography for personal interest, product, jewellery and fashion photography.
Varun
Founder - The Simple Crew
×
1. What does photography mean to you and how did you fall in love with it?
Photography for me has always been a way to define humanity, to define our culture, always frozen in time. It's a way to record history as it happens all around us.
I fell in love with photography just from seeing photographs and admiring how history can be frozen with such beauty. There was nothing specific that made me want to become a photographer. It was a series of events from slowly being exposed to great photos online to be able to buy a camera.
About myself: I'm an architect who picked up a camera at some point during college and then never looked back. I found it very satisfying to take a good photo and its something that came naturally to me so I stuck with it. I went to the London College of Fashion to study photography and then moved back home to work. About my work: I shoot long personal documentary projects mostly for myself, and that has occasionally been published in magazines or a newspaper. Commercially I shoot weddings, fashion, portraits, products. I'm in the process of setting up a studio in Chennai.
2. How important is a unique style? As you grow as a photographer, are you seeing your style and interests change?
Of course, it's important to develop a unique style in any art form, though I think it's not something people should immediately strive for when they’re starting out. It is something that will end up coming to any artist naturally as they become better at their work.
Style and interests: Yes I always notice changes in the things I like and don’t like. I always go back to my old photos and find something I previously hated but I like now. I think this is natural progress as an artist grows. For example: I hate shooting in black and white these days because colors are just more interesting to me. I don’t have any particular reason for it, it is just where my interests go. I definitely expect this to change in the future.
3. The best part about your job and the challenges that come along with it?
Best part about my job: At the end of say 10 years of working on a project, looking back at the entire catalog of photos to see a piece of history that I’ve captured and also notice personal growth along the way is very satisfying.
Challenges: the most challenging thing for me is to have the determination to hang onto a documentary project for the long term, not losing confidence in it. There are many technical challenges of course like how to take a particular shot, what equipment to use, etc but those are small issues solved easily.
4. You seem to have the ability to make the subject relax and reveal a candid and natural side to them through your photography. Do you have any tips to achieve this?
One of the things I do when I take photos of people is to try to acquaint myself with them beforehand. This helps both of us not feel like strangers at the shoot. Another thing is to be genuinely interested in the person and have a normal conversation with them as you would when meeting a new friend. This puts everyone at ease and helps build trust.
An architect who picked up a camera at some point during college and then never looked back. Varun shoots long personal documentary projects that have been published in magazines and newspapers. Commercially shoots weddings, fashion, portraits, products.
Sponsored Ad
Be Safe Wherever You Go. Register on SaveSoul
Are you in danger? Use SaveSoul to alert nearby people within 1 km radius that you are in danger. It also alerts your friends and family automatically.
Share your story with us
Know a great story or want to share your own? Write to us at editor@chennaiinsider.com and we will get back to you. For the latest stories arising out of Chennai, follow us on Instagram
