What I love doing the most!
Photography is being me, a time when I am pure and authentic. I have felt most creative with my camera on my hands as a companion that I have conversations with which I share through my photos that evoke emotion. Photography is a healing therapy for me; making someone feel nostalgic is one of the best parts of being a photographer. I love pictures that make people go back and relive the moment and youthfulness. Surrounded by so many closed books, I want to open the pages of my life through the visuals that live on their own, letting the viewer weave their own story.
Since music isn’t my forte, I create music for the eyes that narrate the stories and make the elements come to life. Photography is the story I fail to put into words but share through the means of visuals. When I feel low, I take my camera with me and go for a photo walk, and this helps me ease the incoherence in my mind and find a reason to be happy. I find pleasure in capturing the rare moments even though it would require tons of patience to capture them. I express my freedom of art in the form of photographs that could inform, educate and move audiences worldwide without the need for a shared spoken language. There is no language barrier in photography, and I communicate through it. My photos not just remain still but also a living emotion depicting an event. It has reached places where I have never been. My photos are meant to exchange culture, religion, emotions, and life. They don’t just get hung on walls but also remind me of the beauty I once witnessed and share the joyous spirit attached to it. I have always been a hyperactive and complacent guy who doesn’t stay idle, but photography cultivates me with the patience and composure I would have otherwise struggled. A moment that I had witnessed from my eyes the previous year and freezing the moment at the current moment to the epiphany I had clicked over millions of shots became so meaningful as it always is.
I was first introduced to photography when I was 8/9 years old when one of my father’s friends brought this old classic vintage camera, probably Fujica. As an inquisitive child, I had several questions- how does this work? What happens when I click this button? All those questions ruminating on my mind and my curiosity growing peaks, I was sure I would be fond of it as it lets me be myself with total freedom. I find no image hard to capture; I enjoy the process rather than the outcome. I click photos not to like or dislike, but each photo I click has a special meaning to me, sharing about the least or limitations. I have one image of whom I call my dearest sister Buna Didi, who is visually impaired, and I feel helpless about my art, not seeing what she looks like. I shared with her verbally while clicking her photo that she looks like a beautiful princess with her ever-lasting precious smile. Maybe I could show the pictures I clicked of her and let her feel the ordinary people’s emotions through the eyes. I become so true to myself while I press the shutter button pausing time and reliving it for the future. I am glad and grateful to live for what I love doing the most, saving stills from the movie we call life. I click with people, not just understanding their words but just following the patterns of their movements and placing myself in them and waiting for what might happen next with my camera in hand. Two turns one knot; that’s how I tie my camera in my hand, knowing it would never let me go no matter how tough it would get. All my ideas come forth and are alive when I’m in inaudible conversation with my camera.
The liberty in creating things off-limits and not living with the sin and regrets of living life. Photography is the means to realize the change within my heart of what I want to see through the viewfinder that lets me focus on what’s important to me and blur the redundancy than what others want me to see through putting on someone else’s lens. I feel so authentic about myself, which lets me take control of myself and the world I see.
