Aditya Mendiratta
Aditya Mendiratta is a former software engineer turned photographer. We sit down with him for a chat on a cup of coffee where he talks about what inspired him to leave his job at a multi-national company, his shoot with celebrities and his upcoming projects.
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How do you position yourself as in the industry? What kind of photography do you specialise in?
I am recognised as a portrait photographer. To capture the essence and emotions of a person gives me a sense of professional satisfaction. Having shot portraits of celebrities like MS Dhoni, Richa Chadha and Mandira Bedi to name a few, I believe I have evolved with every click and feel fortunate to be associated with such incredible personalities.
What inspired you to take photography as a career?
As far as I can remember, I was always inclined towards photography. Throughout my life I have been curious and creative. When I was a kid, I used to love playing with my grandfather’s Kodak camera and I still remember vividly, how magical it felt every time I held it. This memory came back to me when I was opening up my camera - yes I do that sometimes. The engineer in me seeps in every now and then! ;)
Since you belong from an engineering background, we all have seen during the pandemic people are releasing how important it is to follow your passion? What's you take on that and what message would you like to send out to the young generation?
Engineers somehow find a way to do everything except engineering haha ;) As cliché as this may sound. It is very important to love what you do and be happy with it. Having said that, it’s also true that no work comes with guaranteed happiness throughout. There will always be highs and lows but what’s important is to be persistent no matter what. Experiment with different things until you find your calling and always remember that there is no age to start something new.
What is your take on the scope of photography in India?
Photography now has a lot of scope in India. Before it used to be a task just to figure out the direction one needs to follow due to lack of opportunities. Photography was considered an undependable profession but today, there are endless opportunities compared to when I started out ten years ago. Although I feel that photography tends to become stagnant in India. Photographers forget that this is a creative field and their right side of the brain needs to work a lot more. I’d be proud to see more photographers come out from our country and break the norms.
You have captured a lot of celebrities. What is it like to be photographing celebrities?
I am fortunate that I got a chance to photograph some famous personalities. Celebrities are humans too, they are like everybody else. In fact, the work environment is a lot more professional as they bring understanding and maturity to the experience. Given their busy schedule, sometimes you are given a small time frame to shoot them but thankfully I started shooting celebrities at an early stage in my career so my experience comes in handy every time.
How did you get into commercial and portrait photography?
The first two years of my career went into shooting nightlife. As exciting as it may sound, I was feeling restless and creatively unfulfilled most of the time. So I started experimenting with different genres of photography. It was at this point that my focus shifted towards commercial and portrait photography. It may look easy but getting to the final result through lighting, art direction, and location and to bring out the emotions in people is a challenging task. I took up this challenge as I wanted to send out a message through my work.
What do you look up to from international and national photography?
I definitely think that people in India need to step out of their comfort-zone and that includes both brands and photographers. International photographers don’t restrict themselves within boundaries and as a result their shoots are more experimental that send out strong messages. That’s something we are still playing safe with in our country and we should definitely try to break out of that.
Do you think photographers should worry about gear?
I feel most established photographers send out a wrong message about the gear. I have often heard people saying that gear is not important but it actually is. However, whats more important is not limiting your mind and being stuck because of lighting or camera brands. Your idea and the emotion that a viewer feels through your image is what counts the most.
What are your upcoming projects?
I’m determined to change the commercial photography scene in India so lately I have been a little particular about picking the right kind of projects which would bring a different perspective to the commercial scene and because innovative things take time you would see them published in a few months.
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