Homegrown Creatives Tell Us About A Picture That Changed The Way They Look At The World

If we were to suppose that the root of all our desires and motivations is almost always tied to our need to be seen, the art of seeing then becomes an inseparable part of existence. Everything from what is to what could be falls into the the scope of imagination of a photographer. By catching fleeting moments that offer themselves to a willing witness, the photographer is both a mythmaker and keeper of memories

All smoke has fire. For photographers, it's that first encounter that sparked in the the ability to see beyond just the eyes; an image that captured them, unlike the other way around. In this article, we asked homegrown photographers about that one photograph that impacted them deeply, that changed the trajectory of how they see the world and art as a whole.

Born in Patna, in a family of artists, musicians and academics, Rishabh learned to balance of reason and romance. In design school, he took to the camera and his passion for story telling only grew from thereon. He developed a keen understanding of the camera, the play of light and shadow, the use of lenses and the art of framing a photograph. According to the artist, a photograph tells you a lot about how the photographer sees the world.

As a story teller, Rishabh enjoys weaving stories across mediums like writing, film-making, photography, music, art. For him, the craft of cinema is all encompassing and hence, his photographic expression is inherently cinematic that emerged as a still frame from a film running in his head. His photoseries 'East of The Sun' underlines this. "Set in the orient, draws an ensemble of memory, longing and hope. There's rhythm, movement, balance and a melancholic colour play. East of The Sun was honoured with gold at the prestigious PX3, Paris in 2018, the global recognition a defining milestone in my journey", he shares.

Before Gayatri was a photographer herself, she was modelling for Rikrivu Banerjee, Shivaji Sen, and Meghdeep Sen within the genres of nude art & boudoir. This led to her own pursuit of photography. "My journey with nude art and boudoir comes from an urge to create a safe space for women and queer individuals like myself, where we can tell our stories, share our thoughts, and create art together that reflects upon how past experiences — good and bad — shape our lives," shares Gayatri.

The artist is moved by Chantal Convertini work that speak of the complexities in contrast with all things simple related to the human body, representing power and vulnerability at the same time. She elaborates, "It is Chantal's ability to pick the simplest of things, the most mundane, and photograph them, thereby speaking of multiple fragmented stories that our bodies carry is what inspired me to begin my journey in self-portraiture, and photographing women and queer folks to tell their stories."

Swarat's encounter photography was accidental. More than a decade later, he has worked with street photography, documentaries, and is currently experimenting with storytelling in fashion.

A picture he took in Mahabalipuram is close to his heart. The gesture of the little girl at the centre caught his eye. Layering the foreground against the distant background, the artist tried to create some depth by aligning different elements in the photo. The emotions, gestures and timing all converged into narrative that felt both spontaneous and intentional.

Mohit was drawn towards portrait photography due as a form of individual storytelling, but his fascination has always been with filmmaking, which is why frames in a film have inspired him more than genres of photography.

"One film that profoundly influenced me is Weekend by Andrew Haigh. It beautifully captures the intimacy between two individuals, and I’m captivated by its portrayal for so many reasons. Inspired by this, I began exploring the concept of intimacy in my own work, striving to capture it with the same authenticity and nuance that the film achieves," he shares.

Debmalya realized the importance of leaving something out there in the world for oneself, something of meaning that others could derive hope from, after falling sick for a year in his hometown Kolkata. That's when he started using photography as an efficient tool; a form of language that evolved as an instinct over those initial years of turmoil. As he spent time finding himself in New York, photography eventually became an extension of life itself; with its tragedies, violence, love, joys, and sorrows.

French Surrealist Claude Cahun's double portrait has impacted the photographer the most. Fighting as one of the formative queer icons at a time when the term queer itself was not even in the popular lexicon, her self-portraits inspired Debmalya and and showed him how self-portraiture, too, can be an efficient way to affirm your own sense of being. "Her portraits and work, a mixture of playful, intense, theatrical, or natural, rejected the formal definitions and tropes of representation and gender binary. Her photographs are related to my own experience of coming out as queer at a later stage in life," shares Debmalya. "The photograph presents femininity as conflicting and contradictory, a nuanced combination of reality and artifice. While facing the viewer, Cahun has her collar turned up to protect her neck from view, yet in her reflection, the artist’s neck is revealed in a deliberate show of eroticism", he elaborates.

Simone was never formally trained as a photographer. She stumbled upon it and kept shooting and learning along the way.

Sohrab Hura’s deeply personal project, Life is Elsewhere, that is based on his mother who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, has stayed deeply with Simone since the first time she came across it.

Photography helped Prachi restart everything after a life-changing incident. It gave her a purpose to share more art and happiness around in the world.

The artist loves a photo taken by Steve McCurry near Peshawar in Pakistan. The colours , composition and how you can experience the energy of the subject is what moves the artist.

Indrajit made a conscious decision to pursue photography as his primary means of expression in 2012. He had been involved in a local theatre group prior that but he was drawn to the idea of working alone and capturing pictures and documenting.

"Raghubir Singh's photograph of women sitting in the rain had a profound impact on me. It was through this image that I truly understood the power of still to convey emotions and capture the essence of a moment," he shares.

Navya's love for photography started with a vintage Kodak film camera that her parents bought during the early 2000s. The patience that was required to save the film roll for the right shot exposed the artist to the passion and dedication it took to make images that speak to one's soul.

Contemporary German photographer Juergen Teller who works in fashion and fine arts is someone that has inspired Navya to explore photography. The artist is drawn to Juergen's overexposed washed out style with little to no posing/pure candid expressions that are strongly rooted in fashion and fashion aesthetics. "His photographs from the 90s and 2000s with 90s supermodels Kate Moss, Mariacarla Boscono, and prominent Hollywood celebrities like Winona Ryder have had a huge influence on me to explore fashion photography in its most candid, truest, and unexpected form," she shares.

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