I still couldn’t believe the day when I was called to Yuvraj Singh’s house. His team specifically asked to interview me in person to see how a 21-year-old can manage the situation. When I got selected to work with him, my happiness was beyond all bounds. I still get nervous whenever I shoot with him. He has such a great personality. I don’t want to make mistakes but he makes everyone in the team very comfortable. I feel so grateful every time we shoot together.
I was leaning towards photography a few years before high school. I used to take pictures with my phone but never really felt passionate about it. My interest grew when I was in high school. I took science but I did invest a lot of my time in photography. Instagram was a new thing back then and my friend convinced me to start a page. I started getting appreciation for my work and I asked my dad for a camera. To my surprise, even he agreed. Even after the DSLR, I didn’t have an urge to shoot a lot until a friend of mine suggested that I buy a 50mm lens. It was expensive to buy a Canon lens, so I bought a Yougnuo one instead. It changed something in my work. I started asking my friends to shoot and all of them got so excited. I did photoshoots for all my friends. Somewhere during the process, I fell in love with photography which grew stronger as each day passed.
Since I have started my journey by clicking the pictures of people. Clicking portraits is my favorite thing. No matter which genre I am photographing, I will always find a human in my frame as I think no one can be a better subject. I keep experimenting with different lights and emotions and whatnot!
After school, I decided to join a media college to polish my skills but photography and videography were only a part of one semester. Sometimes it just didn’t feel enough. I knew what I wanted to pursue, so during my summer breaks, I used to do internships with different people to understand more about my passion. That was one of the best decisions I took, as I was exposed to different situations. I graduated last year and my photography professor still shows my website, as a reference, to all freshers, for what can be done with photography. I feel proud of what I have done.
I took part in every competition and exhibition we had in college. It helped my work to reach many people which made college time wonderful.
A friend of mine and I went to the spice market in Chandni Chowk. The shoot was going so smoothly and we were loving the results. When we were moving from one street to another, she felt like someone was staring but ignored but When I said I’m going on the terrace of the small building for the aerial view, she told me about a particular man. I comforted her by saying, it’s just one picture and we’ll go but when I came back, the man turned out to be a pervert and had tried to harass her. I thought of beating him but I didn’t know anyone in that area so we ran away. Sometimes such things are so unexpected, weird, and gross but we learn to deal with them as well.
Over the years, I have worked with wonderful people and brands. I am currently working with Mercedes Benz, Amazon, Myntra, and amazing celebrities like Yuvraj Singh and many more. Sometimes all of it feels like a dream but I love living in this reality where I can do what I want. There are of course ups and downs and disturbed sleeping schedules are one of the negatives but in the end, it is all worth it.
As Anais Nin said “Good things happen to those who hustle.” Now I spend most of my spare time developing my skills, mostly in editing. The industry is moving so fast and I think it’s very important to keep yourself upgraded with the latest trends and hacks as they will help you stand out from the crowd and shower you with better opportunities.
- Aditya Bagga
