I have been doing phone photography since the beginning, when I started photography back in 2015, I had the phone with a 2MP camera and used to post the pictures on Fb & Insta. Since then, I have never stopped myself. The appreciation from people on social media has been very positive and that has kept me going on till now.
I am continuing with my phone photography, as it makes me push my creative limits harder and better. Evolution in smartphone cameras has motivated many budding photographers to practice and learn more about photography before investing in big cameras.
My sister and my friends have been very supportive of my journey but my mother doesn’t know much about photography but whenever I discuss it with her, she seems proud and happy. On one of my birthdays, my friends gifted me a collage of all my clicked photographs in it. That’s when I realized I can do really good in this field and just the thought of it made me very happy. I have never looked back since.
I am a chemist by profession and will continue until I don’t find myself ready to dive into the professional world of photography. It was easier to give my time for photography when I was in college but in work life, it gets a little tough to manage. But your passion always finds time for itself.
People think that investing in good cameras makes them a photographer. That is incorrect. Your perspective makes you one. When I started photography, even I had a desire to buy a DSLR but being from a middle-class family it was not very easy and as time passed, my work kept getting better, I found that smartphone photography is my style and that’s what makes me different from others. It is always about creativity, playing with lights, and pushing your limits much more than your device. So, I invested in a better phone and explored my creativity through it,
I’ve always had a thing for sunsets and that’s why I enjoy silhouettes the most. When I was in school, I used to draw a lot and they were mostly silhouettes. I have always been attracted to them. Since I love minimal frames - silhouettes just enhance my creativity and add a lot more ways to experiment. Apart from silhouettes, I love clicking portraits. Portraits allow you to tell any story you want to tell, you can bring all your creativity in them and that just makes me very intrigued towards them.
I have always been an introvert, but photography opened up that communication door and now I interact a lot with my fellow photographers. Social media has always encouraged winning competitions to amazing collaboration experience, it has done it all for me. Photography makes you grow a lot as a person, it teaches you to push your limit and go out there.
I remember going on a trek with my colleagues. There was a beautiful waterfall and I went a little too far to click the picture I wanted. Accidentally, I slipped and lost my balance. I fell on the rocks and the display of my phone was cracked too but thankfully it didn’t turn out any worse than this. Since then, I am quite cautious on that front.
I consider my best trip to be my Manali trip, where our trip organizer was so happy with my work that he offered me and my friend a free trip, which came out as a big surprise to me. You don’t realize how powerful your work can be until you do it.Â
Going to photo walks also plays an important role in a photographer’s growth. It will let you explore different perspectives from different creative minds. It will help you communicate better with the community. It is a gala for photographers, where you work and enjoy at the same time. The discussions with like-minded people always help you grow without a doubt.
As a photographer, you need to keep clicking as much as you can. No matter how busy you are, you will always find time for what you love. It will only make you better and with every shoot, you will learn something new for sure.
- Brijal Raut
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