Travel addict, TEDx speaker, award-winning photographer and entrepreneur, Richa Maheshwari wears many caps with equal ease. A photographer with a penchant for fitness, she also holds the Limca record in the fitness category for maximum burpees in one minute breaking the current world record. But her struggle has been real when she began her artistic journey seven years ago while still in college. Here’s a glimpse of her love affair with camera and photography as an art.
When and why your romance with the camera began?
I had a bent towards fashion and arts while growing up and ending up in a fashion college was a cherry on the cake. It was in my third year that a professor discovered my hidden talent of photography in one of the assignment exhibitions and encouraged me to take it up seriously. Hence my rigorous research began and I started freelancing while still being in college. The best part was that photography was an excellent medium of artistic expression and my imagination found a language! I embarked upon this journey to never look back and by the end of my fourth year of college, I had my studio in place
As a photographer– how connected do you need to be with your subject in order to create an honest picture?
An artist has the power to emote his imagination or narrate a story through his/her work. An art piece has a soul and can enamor only if the artist has in-depth knowledge of or connection with the subject. Devoid of which it gets very superficially aesthetic and meaningful.
What were the pros and cons of not being an industry insider?
The bad part was that it was extremely tedious and a big struggle to develop contacts. Fashion is not an easy industry and mostly all the fashion houses and designers covet to work for are big-wigs and are not easy to reach. It’s a struggle even if you are talented because you might not be able to reach them out easily. An artist gets a break or recognition only if he/she has the right exposure.
The second drawback was that no established photographer would give me an internship or an opportunity to assist because I had already started freelancing during my college days. It’s a very conscious industry where you won’t get any help that easily.
The cons were in a way were actually my pros.
Having assisted no photographer, I learned it all by myself which not only gave me an in-depth knowledge but also helped me in carving my own style, different from others.
And the struggle actually made me strong enough to take risks required to make any business grow, dynamically.
What your creative process is from ideate, debate to create?
I am a deep thinker and I look for inspiration everywhere in the smallest of inanimate objects. My inspirations are graduated to further online research and mood-boarding which not only adds artistic value but also swells-up the aesthetic content.
What is it about photography that fascinates you the most?
The fact that I can express an ocean of thoughts without writing a single word.
Rapid Fire
Favorite camera: Nikon d850
Favorite color: Black
Favorite music genre: Pop
Favorite photographer: David LaChapelle
The first thing that you clicked as a commercial photographer: It was hoarding for an ethnic brand
Your dream project would be: Doing a larger than life set and shooting Beyonce!
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