INTERVIEW
November 9, 2020
UNPLANNED MOMENTS
Photography by Ashish Patel
Interview by Melanie Meggs
Ashish Patel is a Delhi based street and documentary photography who only started photographing about a year and a half ago. His main focus is to show the candidness of a scene and make it look extraordinary. Learning mostly from his mentors he gets his inspiration from the Indian people going about their everyday lives.
“I was born in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. I live in New Delhi, India. Photography has always been a part of my journey. Although its meaning kept changing in my life. During school, it was the capturing memories phase. I used to click pictures of my friends and also self-portraits to keep with me as a memory.”
IN CONVERSATION WITH ASHISH PATEL
THE PICTORIAL LIST: Ashish please tell us, when did you become interested in photography?
ASHISH PATEL: Things changed when I moved to Delhi from Kanpur for my engineering studies. It was the event capturing phase. During a college event, I borrowed a camera from a friend and covered it through the lens. It was the first time I clicked something with a DSLR, and to my surprise, the results were quite good (I had clicked those pictures on auto-mode). I didn't know anything about how a camera works. So I entered the learning phase, I went searching on YouTube on how the manual mode works and what the settings are. I spent hours practising and improving my skills. I kept clicking basic photographs of sunsets and flowers, everything that I came across, and through that process, I’ve learned a few things on how a camera functions.
TPL: Where do you find your inspiration? What do you want to express through your photography? And what are some of the elements you always try to include in your photography?
AP: I think I learn from people every day. I learn from my mentors and I get inspiration from so many people. To me one of the basic characteristics of street photography is candidness. I feel that as a street photographer it is my duty to show the candid street.
Photography has taught me many things and the most important one is patience. I have been an impatient person my whole life but now, I can wait for a perfect shot for hours. I can stand at a position for several minutes to capture that perfect moment. It feels like a responsibility and I like that.
Being a street photographer, I find my own voice in my photos. In street photography I look out for some unusual things and then create some illusion. In street photography what you hide is equally important as what you reveal.
TPL: Do you have any favourite artists or photographers you would like to share with us?
AP: Mr. Raghu Rai and Mr. Vineet Vohra
TPL: Does the equipment you use help you in achieving your vision in your photography? What camera do you use? Do you have a preferred lens/focal length?
AP: Absolutely yes, being a street photographer, I feel that your presence of mind matters more than the camera equipment.
I use a Nikon D5600 and prefer to shoot 18-55mm.
TPL: Have you ever been involved in the artistic world before photography? What are some of your goals as an artist? Where do you see yourself or hope to see yourself in five years?
AP: Photographs are the universal language of our era. Everyone has hundreds, maybe thousands in their pocket. Weightless, they turn the scale when the argument is: What happened here? Images don’t age or warp. A great photographer’s strings never go out of tune but as a participant in the formal artistic world of museums and galleries? No, only as a visitor.
I want to work as a photographer for Magnum Photos after 5 years.
TPL: "When I am not out photographing, I (like to)…
AP: Listen to music, travel, hang out with friends."
