WHO?
I was born in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, in the year 1997. When I was just six months old my family moved to Gurgaon, Haryana, where I’ve been living since. It has only been about four years since I’ve been into photography. Coming from a lower middle class family, photography as a career was unthinkable, let alone purchasing a camera. I think that’s the reason I really understood the value of photography, and emotionally connected with it. I purchased my first camera when I was in the first year of college, studying journalism and mass communication, it was a point and shoot.
In 2019 I won in Brussels(1st Prize, Singles) and Miami (3rd Prize International Series) street photography festivals. Today, I teach photography and am a member of Unstaged Collective, a group of very talented photographers who are also my friends.
WHERE?
In many ways India is the golden land for photographers. I always carry my camera with me. I live in Gurgaon but mostly shoot in the streets of Old Delhi. People don’t ask too many question in Delhi, unlike in Gurgaon where they can tend to be a bit hostile. But lately I’ve started shooting in my own city too. I love to shoot different festivals in different cities of India. I also love to shoot my own sweet home.
WHEN?
Four years ago I started my journey as a wedding and fashion photographer. I copied most of the stuff from the internet. One day my friend called me and said, “what the hell are you doing!just copying other artist from the internet?” He then introduced me to street photography, after that there was no looking back. I started working on developing my photography skills. From the last three years I’ve been following a strict routine. I wake up as early as 4 a.m, take a metro which takes two hours to reach Delhi, and then shoot for almost 2-3 hours, and then I go back to my job. It doesn’t matter what the weather is, I always tend to follow this routine. On weekends I shoot with my friends, almost all day, I like that the most.
WHAT?
I shoot a lot. My core essence of photography is “candid” which I like the most. I am a hardcore street photographer. Photography is a balance between your mind and body. Street photography is all about living in the candidness of the present moment. I think street photography is one of the purest forms of photography. I love to compose my photographs in both color and black and white. I don’t have a specific approach in photography, I shoot what I like. If I describe my photographs, I’d say I always look for some extraordinary moment in an ordinary environment. I love to compose surreal and energetic frames. When I shoot, my mind, heart and camera, all have to be in sync.
WHY?
My camera is a passport through which I can travel wherever I want. For me, photography is like a superpower through which I can stop time and live that moment again through my photographs. Before I ventured into photography, I really didn’t have a goal, but it has changed since I’ve picked up the camera, now I have a goal, it is to find my unique voice in photography. Photography helps explore other faiths, and doesn’t have a religion. Photography has changed my life, socially, mentally and financially. Now I can’t imagine my life without photography. Photography is my identity. I think we don’t choose photography, it chooses us.
