Ramsi Krishna's Warhole-Like Self-Portraits Capture The Introspective Angst Of Adulthood

Ramsi Krishnan is an Indian photographer whose recent self-portrait photoseries caught our eye. We caught up with the young fledgling creative to find out more.

What are some things that have influenced you as a creative?

I wouldn't describe myself as an artist. It's a term thats too grand and I believe I don't deserve that title as of yet.

Some of my biggest influences for my work are the works of film photographers. I always try to make my photos look like they've been shot on film, although it isn't. Till the age of 19 I always shot pictures of landscapes and objects that looked good, but after I saw the works of photographers like Kubrick (when he was young), Warhol and Zhong Lin, I began changing my style and started shooting people more often instead (friends and relatives mostly).

Someone who really helped improve my style in photography is a very close friend of mine, Varun Menon, who's a filmmaker, designer and now an upcoming musician. His strong words of criticism and his work too helped influence my work to a very great degree.

Who are some artists currently on your radar?

Varun Menon, @leunious, and Jamie Hawkesworth.

Tell us about your self-portrait series.

A series of self-portraits taken over a year long period. I shot all of them using the front camera of my iPhone. It was a project that I had an idea for since 2021. I started shooting these pictures during the first year of university since I was living alone in an apartment and desperately needed something to kill time with. I didn't use any expensive tripods or additional lighting. I just kept my phone on top of either a wash basin or a tea table, set the timer on and pose.

I used references from Melvin Sokolsky's Tooker Lips, Collier Schorr's shirt ad campaign, Andy Warhol's polaroids, Thomas Ruff's L'Empereur, and Mark Borthwick's Helen Fillieres.

What are some things you learned while putting this project together?

This project was the first time I took photos of myself. I took around 50 photos over a period of 12 months and edited them during the same period as well. I was a bit nervous, since it was the first time I was posting photos of myself online, however, the reviews and comments I got were overwhelming. It gave me the courage to do more.

Something that I learned during this project was how you don't really need a professional camera or heavy equipment if you want to shoot something great. Sometimes, all you need is just a phone, a tubelight and a chart paper as a background. Oh, and a love for editing photos as well.

Although I don't shoot portraits on my phone anymore, I would suggest any budding photographers to start off with taking photos on their phone and then maybe later move onto cameras. And be creative and fun. Just don't be boring.

Describe your creative process and the purpose with which you create.

I like to take unusually long hiatuses after I've created something. The last time I held a photoshoot was in August 2023. During this long break I like to brainstorm, and draw inspiration from the works of others. I live by three rules:

1. Whenever you do something, always do it with style.
2. Never try to be something that you are not.
3. Never ever, ever rush.

Whenever I shoot portraits I only do it because I need to, not because I want to. And this need appears only very rarely, but when it does come to me, I refuse to stop until I have achieved what I wanted, exactly how I wanted it. I often get my best ideas when I am about to sleep at 3 am in the morning or when I'm in the shower.

I usually shoot around 20 photos depending on the series/the work I'm focused on. From this, I water it down to the best ten. Something that I really enjoy during this process is editing. I like to play around with colours, and I keep working on it until it looks like exactly what I want it to look like. The editing part usually takes around an hour or two, depending on how attached I am to the project. However, there are times when after editing, I stare at it for too long and grow unsatisfied, so I edit it once more, and then over, and over again until its "good enough".

You can follow Ramsi here.

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