In an enterprise to discover the creative threads of the images that confront his gaze, Akash Agrawal, a keen photographer, who claims to be “a collector of moments”, promises to offer a new outlook of the world through the semiotics of his lens. He views photography as a medium that illuminates the underlying dynamics of the imagery that surrounds us. His photography is rooted in the artistic perception that Photography speaks in a visual language that has the power to inform, educate and move the audiences worldwide without the necessity of a shared vernacular.

For an artist, engaged to the core, in wafting meaning through the visual tapestry of images, it comes across as a happy coincidence that his snapshots capture a wide spectrum of shots that  abounds in arresting visuals from the everyday life, the delight of scrumptious food, the grandeur of an architectural marvel and the panorama of a pristine landscape. His frame registers the bright warning colours of wasps, the oft-overlooked souvenir from a previous trip, the beauty of a blooming flower and more. While his array of black and white photography taps into the hidden persona of the subject, his collection of wedding photography unravels the excitement of the newly-weds. He is also an avid traveller. His travel photography re-inscribes the personal experience of unmasking the multilayered beauty of his sojourn. Each sojourn, presumably unique, yields a perspective of its own. Through his lens, he has captured the dazzling appearances of the architectural style of Buland Darwaza in Fatehpur Sikri, the artistically carved Maharani Ki Chhatriyan in Jaipur, the aesthetically engineered staircase at the entrance of Junagarh Fort in Bikaner, the arch monument of the Gateway of India in Mumbai, the sandy beaches of Bali, the vast seaward ridges of Australia, the gladiatorial arena of Colosseum in Rome, the Grand Mosque of Muscat, to list a few.

The visible world, with its riot of colours, finds a powerful echo in his photographs, for he grabs moments that remain the same as well as those that drift away from the clutches of time.

He captures the bewildering kaleidoscope of images that paves the way for the viewers to stand back a little and filter the variety of spectacles that the world unfolds before their eyes.

Tête-à-tête 

How did photography happen to you?

I don’t have an epiphany moment. In some ways, everyone has been exposed to photography from an early age.

When I was a teenager, my family took me to Bannerghatta Biological Park in Bangalore. Right before the trip, we purchased a Kodak camera. I enjoyed clicking natural wildlife, especially the beautiful butterflies. Maybe since then, I have gotten the photography bug.

As a photographer, who inspires you the most?

Auditya Venkatesh aka audiphotography. The way he captures images through his phone is amazing and inspiring. Apart from that, I love the work of British photographer, Platon, who is famous for clicking portraits of world leaders.

How do you evolve yourself as a photographer? 

As a general principle, I am always taking mental snapshots of everything as my practice routine.

I think that improvement in craft starts small, it starts simple, then you grow and evolve from there. The important thing is that you learn to concentrate on the way certain elements warp, distort, or improve a photograph.

Retrospectively, what has been the most courageous thing that you’ve ever done?

I would say Skydiving in Australia. You have to take a huge leap of faith before you dive off 15000 ft. It was worth it.

Do you have a message for young dreamers who follow or wish to follow an unconventional path? How can they beat the odds?

First of all, shoot what you love. Learn to shoot by shooting what you love, regardless of whether it is landscape or still life. 

Secondly, learn how to use your equipment. Get off the Auto mode. Most importantly, Editing is an important part of the process and there are a few nice and free tools such as Snapseed and Adobe Lightroom Mobile to learn from and play around with.

His snapshots radiate the joy of experiencing the spectacle of every moment. After all, each photograph amplifies our understanding of not only the familiar but also the unfamiliar.

How remarkable would it be if we could realize, appreciate and explore the beauty that exists all around us; it could be in an isolated meadow, birds nestling in a tree, the coy expressions on a person’s face, raindrops on the window pane, an aeroplane cleaving through the clouds and so much more. We’re surrounded by so many wonderful things, and yet, many at times we fail to applaud these marvelous creations around us. To do this task for us, we have some amazing photographers who are always on the look; they capture many ordinary and extraordinary moments which might miss our sight, but are a delight to look at!

1. Arbaz Riyaz Pinjari

Hailing from a small village in Nasik, Arbaz Riyaz Pinjari is an inspiring mobile photographer who found true happiness in capturing those who are often neglected and debased. After his graduation in mechanical engineering, he moved to Mumbai for his job and was overwhelmed by the newness and strangeness around him. Drowned in despair and worries, he was sitting on a park bench one day when he saw two barefoot indigent girls laughing and having the time of their lives in their worn-out clothes. He captured their benign joy and was tempted to capture the lives of more of their like. His Instagram page “thelostthief” displays some of his incredible clicks where the poor and underprivileged can be seen enjoying their life to the fullest. Through his photographic venture, he realized how, despite being materialistically well off, we fail to match their optimism, contentment and joyful radiance.

2. Sanket Joshi

Going by the Instagram handle “matkasuuuur”, Sanket Joshi harboured a love for photography during his school days. Born and brought up in Pune, he got his first camera as a school kid and was struck with curiosity and amazement for the art. He experimented with a basic zoom camera for three years before he could convince his parents to buy him a DSLR. Self- taught, he gradually developed immense interest in photography and started exploring and capturing extensively. He believes that photography helps preserve the treasure of memories; and this is what that arouses passion and inspires him to click and capture. He mainly practices street photography, encapsulating street life and portraits. He also works on product and fashion photography. For him, photography is a source of utter bliss and he enjoys himself immensely in the process of capturing the tiniest details of day to day life.

3. Pranav Chormale

Pranav Chormale hails from Buldana district in Maharashtra and is currently based in Pune. He likes to capture everything that captivates him in his surroundings, bit is some beautiful shades of colour or some artistic patterns. He experiments with things encountered in day to day activities, composition street art, perspective vision etc. He is absolutely delighted by the act of collecting and harbouring the beauty around him, preserving them in his collection forever. He was driven towards photography by his passion for the art and was also inspired by various artists in this field, which includes Ganesh Vanare and Auditya Venkatesh. He wanted to use the web space to display the aestheticism around him and does so on his Instagram page which goes by the name “mr_pran15”.

Travelling can be liberating. It is often from the love of travelling that a fierce passion for capturing the unfamiliar arises. When a person interacts and witnesses new things, while travelling, it is almost a reflex want to capture those moments of awe and splendour. Today, we bring you the story Ankita Jindal, a curious soul who captures the unsaid beauty of simple and ordinary things.

Descending from Rajasthan, Ajmer, Ankita loves to travel and practices photography during her journeys. She was provided impetus by one of her friends who persuaded her to join a photography crash course with her. After doing the course, an immense love for photography dawned over Ankita’s life and she decided to do a diploma in photography. During her diploma, Ankita visited different streets and corners of Delhi. From the lanes of Chandni Chowk to Jama Majid, she practiced street photography. She considers it to be a great learning experience in her life and claims that evaded her hesitance towards interacting with new people. One of the most challenging events for Ankita has been undertaking a solo trip to Jaipur during Diwali and capturing most of the famous places of Jaipur in a span of two days.

Ankita feels greatly inspired by her teacher and her family and believes that photography comes from the heart. Just like mastering any other art form, photography too requires persistence, hard work and dedication. She further elaborates on how photography can further be divided into many genres and an interested person can work on any of those. Talking about unconventional careers, Ankita persuades young dreamers to follow their hearts, overcome obstacles and make full use of every opportunity provided to them. She quotes, “ If I can do it, then so can you.”

“Passion is the only thing that fuels a person to keep pouring in hard work and being persistent and helps one succeed in pursuing.”- Harshal Karandikar

Following one’s passions can be a hard job, but it could be one of the most important decisions one makes, while choosing the right career. Luckily, we have talented Indians who follow their dreams boldly and inspire us to do the same. A diversely talented photographer, Harshal Karandikar, the man behind DiversePixelPhotography, talks to us about his interesting journey as a photographer. Born in Ambernath, Harshal holds a B.tech degree in Electronics Telecommunication. Inspired by his father, Harshal took to photography and was fascinated by it at an early age. He realised the important role photography plays in capturing memories and how humans associate deeply with and are impacted by their memories. When he decided to take it up as a part-time job, his parents were very supportive of it.

Despite parental support, his journey had a lot of ups and downs. He shifted various industry segments and finally decided to work with a design firm. He considers his industry shifts to be one of the most courageous things he did because people at his age were mostly settled in their careers. However, he knew he wanted to be happy and satisfied with his job, and hence took a leap of faith. He wanted to enhance and improve his creative skills and wanted sufficient time to practice photography. Thus, he eventually gave up on his initial job and chose the career that he thought suited him best.

Harshal believes that every person is talented in their own way. “Unconventional careers”, according to him, is just a term coined by people who have never attempted making their careers in a specific field. However, identifying one’s talent is a journey in itself and it can be a demanding task. Additionally, pursuing one’s passion requires hard work and dedication. He advises young dreamers to be passionate and dedicated to their career choices. It requires one to devote ample time and to work passionately towards improving it. Apart from photography, Harshal likes editing and retouching images using various software like Photoshop. He has also been an avid guitar player since his school days. Inspired by Erik Almas, he wishes to be a versatile photographer like him one day.

We bring you some of his beautiful clicks.

Alfred Stieglitz once said, “In photography, there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality.” Every photograph captures those unsaid nuances of life, which sometimes gets lost in reality. Abhishek Biradar’s photography magnifies the beauty of any moment, creating magic out of it.

Born and raised in Nanded, Maharashtra, Abhishek pursued his engineering from Pune University. Pretty much living the life of the famous “Farhan Qureshi” from 3 Idiots, Abhishek left his engineering to pursue his passion for photography. His belief that “Profession doesn’t give you happiness but passion does”, gave him the courage to take this tough call.

His love for traveling opened new horizons of photography. Inspired by Ganesh Vanare, he learnt most of his craft through observing and following other photographers. Although currently enrolled in a course, he believes that only techniques can be learnt from others, while passion drives the best captures. He attributes the beautiful journey so far to hard work and persistence, but most importantly passion.

Come let us dive in the world of creativity and passion.