Recording moments for the future

Shutterbug touch

Capturing the perfect moment and retaining it for eternity is what a photographer likes to do with his pictures. This motto is no different for Saravanan Dhandapani who is also an IT professional.

He was inspired to pick up a camera and try his hand at photography when he saw his friend P Venkateshan’s pictures.

 He says, “PeeVee, as I call him, loves capturing different moments during late nights and early mornings. I remember one of the pictures he took which blew my mind away. That’s when I decided to try my hand at it and there has been no looking back since.”

He joined a photography group when he was residing in Chennai and he says that has been his foundation for the rest of his photography journey.

He says, “It was the ultimate group that taught me everything. I would often follow my friends’ works and learn as much as I could through them. It was much later that I started noticing other popular photographers from around the world.”

Saravanan initially started working with lifestyle and portrait pictures. He specifically wanted to capture the emotions of the people he shot.

 He later moved to environmental portraits which also focussed on the surroundings of the subject. Finally, what he continues doing now is street photography.

“I used to go out on a weekly basis to different parts of Chennai when I resided there. Now that I am in Bengaluru, I visit areas like Shivajinagar, KR Market and other similar areas during my weekends,” he adds.

Travel photography is also one his interests. He has been to Varanasi, Kolkata, Rajasthan, Jodhpur and Meghalaya.

He explains, “I usually go with a group when I’m travelling out of the city. It’s easy to find the places and communicate with the locals there. It’s usually a minimum trip of 10 days for the same.”

And what’s the criteria he checks off for that perfect shot? “I almost go with zero expectations when I travel.

I like to interact with the people and understand their culture and lifestyle. The picture is purely what is happening at the moment and how much of that I can bring into the camera,” he smiles. He hopes to travel to France and Myanmar in the future.

Ask him what photography means to him and he says, “When I started taking pictures, I didn’t know I would reach where I am now. The other day, I met someone who told me that I am knowingly or unknowingly recording moments which may not be there in a few years. This made me realise that my pictures are registering moments and recording something for the future generations to see as well. And that to me, is what photography is all about.”