Inside the Photographer's Mind

Crystalline Eyeball

Country’s ace Celebrity & Fashion Photographer RAJ CHATURVEDI  has won
accolades worldwide for all his creative Photography work-of-art – and -is
internationally-acclaimed, with awards in Paris (PX3) and IPA-by Harsh Anand
(Director of Sensationz Media And Arts)

Interestingly, he has shot at international spots including USA, Europe, Thailand,
Singapore, Turkey, and more… And has shot with Celebrity Personalities from
Hollywood and Bollywood including Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, Alia Bhatt, Varun 
Dhawan, Arjun Kapoor, Irfan Khan, Chris Gayle, Randeep Hooda, Kunal Kapoor,
Ali Zafar, Amy Jackson, Sunny Leone, and so on… for repute publications and
fashion brands & designer-labels.

tête-à-tête

*You are so very passionate about Photography?

Absolutely! Photography has been a passion for as long as I can remember,
way before I even dreamt of it being my profession someday. I have owned a
camera (a gift) from the age of 8. I vividly remember taking my camera along
with me on every trip being my first priority and making images was always the
best part about the trips for me. Even professionally, my passion for creating images
helps me go on for long hours to get those right shots. I absolutely love creating
images, when I look through my camera everything else ceases to exist.

* Talk about Your area of specialization in Photography?

Fashion Photography is my area of specialization professionally; though photography
in general is what I love. I experimented with almost all genre of photography before
I discovered Fashion and it has been it since.I started my career with shooting fashion
images and developed my skill set in the segment. I love making vibrant and fun
images, and I like my images to be more about the individual in the shot rather than
about the fashion quotient in it. I love working with the different elements in fashion
photography, especially the people in my shots, I love the interaction and the chance
to direct them like a theater act. Shooting Advertising campaigns is different, the
concept is discussed in so many meetings with the client, etc… and you have just to
follow the lay-outs. Much-more transpiration than inspiration.With fashion it is different.
I can do exactly what I want. I am the director.

* And over the period of years… how have You grown with Photography?

I am a self taught Photographer, my first slr was a Nikon Fm10. Back then you had to
be really sure about what to shoot and how to shoot it, as you had a finite number of
frames and no previews. It was a long and tedious process to put the time and effort
into developing a roll and then realizing that you made the shot or missed it. Thanks
to the digital platform it is an instant output now and that has given us the freedom of
experimenting more and correcting instantly to get the right shot. In the beginning it
was all about getting the shot right and not messing up, but as time went by and I
became more confident of my craft, I now like to convey more through every image
and take more chances in terms of my subjects, the props, lighting etc. For instance,
for an editorial I shot sometime back in Istanbul, we were pressed on time and didn’t
have permission to shoot and we had to shoot traveling around the city. So the gear
I had was heavy and required a lot of manpower, so I decided to shoot during the day
with a reflector and for the night shot we just used the available street and surrounding
lights with a mobile flash light.

*All about Your works?

My work from the beginning has been about creating content that I feel good about
but also delivers the clients brief and vision. I love doing editorial work as it gives me
more freedom to develop a concept and experiment with it, hence some of my favorite
and most challenging works have been from the editorial or the cover stories I shot.
My most exciting shoot was when I shot with Akshay Kumar in Turkey, and due to
some film shoot call time change there, our photo shoot duration was cut down to 45
minutes from 3 hours. And we had to deliver a cover shoot with 4 additional looks.
But Akshay Kumar being the utter professional that he is, was available before our call
time and as efficient and quick like a ninja through the 45 minutes. We not only got our
5 looks done but also experimented with some action poses and location changes.

*In the near future… what do You do look ahead in life for?

My love for the photography has only gotten more intense with time, I cant see
myself not shooting ever. That is something I will do till the end of my life professionally
or not. I am a bit of a perfectionist, so I’m constantly evolving and improving myself to
get better. However, I have a growing fondness for the moving stills medium and wish
to experiment with it and hopefully creating some content in that medium.