We started our gallery visit at the Centre for British Photography. They were exhibiting some great works of female artists like Rosa Martin, Maryam Wahid and Joy Gregory. I was really inspired by the works of Ken Grant. Apart from that, the collaborative project of Daniel Meadows and Martin Parr called “June Street” was quite intriguing. The series shows how the insides of each house had been individualised to reflect the resident’s own tastes.

Then, we went to the Autograph gallery. They exhibited this film showcasing the projection of throat artists performing which was very different and unique.

I’ve always thought that being motivated in your life is essential if you want to succeed as an artist. Something that motivates you to exert more effort or go the extra mile. Xin Li is one such inspiration for me.

China’s Xin Li is a self-portrait artist. He mostly uses film and spends all of his time processing and scanning it in the darkroom. He is always there scanning his film whenever I visit the University. His images have always been an inspiration to me. If I hadn’t met Xin Li, I would have never really wanted to shoot in film. I learned a lot from him about film photography.

He was just diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy and was told to relax for a while. He had to return to China and was told to take his medication for a month. He continued to produce work throughout that time and came up with fantastic images. He told me, “Dude, I love photography,” and I still recall that moment. ” I came to London to pursue my artistic career. I don’t want to stop working”. I’ll tell you. He will be the best RB67 artist you have ever seen.

The first artist recommendation I received from my professor when I first submitted my idea to work on a project with the KUSCO employees was Lewis Khan.

Lewis recently completed a project with NHS employees. He was given unprecedented level access when working on a project against the privatization of the NHS. Since I’m having trouble with that, I believe it was incredibly fortunate for him.

I am having an extremely difficult time explaining my project’s prospectus to people. Many were a little apprehensive to participate in my initiative as a result. I made the decision to approach HR and explain the concept and motivation of the project to them. Yet, I later learned that whether or not a person wants to participate in the project depends on their personal preferences. I have a lot of convincing to do in the upcoming weeks to finish this. Let’s hope it happens.

Even after spending more than 4 months in London, I never felt really motivated to visit Central London. I’ve always felt guilty for not taking more photos. I ultimately made the decision to get my camera out and go for a walk to Tower Bridge. It’s been a while since I used my tripod. I’ve always enjoyed photographing Indian sceneries, but you can’t even find them in London. London is rich in both contemporary skyscrapers and historic structures.

My composing, I think, is my forte. I keep a close eye on everything and am attentive. I wanted my view of the Shard Tower to be unique from what you typically see on Instagram. But, there are some restrictions on your composition.

So I made the decision to use colour grading to my advantage and construct my own version of Cyberpunk – London Edition.

I am without a doubt greatly influenced by Instagram photographers, having grown up at this age. Instagram is where I see a lot of images, and it undoubtedly influences our work. I came across one of the Vogue covers on Instagram one day and was quite intrigued. The same cinematic quality was present, which I have always appreciated. I did some research into it, and that is how I discovered my queen Annie Leibovitz.

I checked all of her photos and instantly fell in love. Everything, including the colours and composition. I began to believe that my lifelong achievement would be if I could create images similar to hers in another ten years. Yet, that is asking too much. But what damage would it do to try?

I believe the first image of Annie that made an impact on me was of Rihanna sporting a baby bump. the lighting, her pose, and the blue tones. It simply had a strong appeal.

I was able to get my hands on her book when I got to KSA. Her journey is truly motivational. She has accomplished a lot in her life to get to where she is today. Imagine the level of passion required to traverse the globe at the age of 73 and demonstrate your talent to a global audience. She is simply amazing.

I have been avidly following artists like Annie Leibovitz and Joe McNally’s work from India. I’ve always found inspiration in Joe. I adore his photographic approach and execution. I find it to be somewhat fascinating and theatrical.

He takes a very cinematic approach to capture the lives of ordinary people, and I really dig that. It resembles viewing a film. It has a narrative quality to it. I’ve always believed that his effective lighting and composing approach are the secrets to his fantastic photographs. Only after seeing his works did I begin to take an interest in portraits. He has had a significant influence on who I am now.

I’ve always had doubts about myself. about a variety of subjects. For me, it’s a never-ending cycle. So, I was considering why I choose this assignment. Why did I think this way? I was perplexed.

I looked into a variety of subjects for my essay for FP 7001. A class of people in India known as The Untouchables, whose chances and rights are merely restricted by upper-class individuals, was the subject of the original article. It dealt with how they are regarded by everyone and how they are made to do specific tasks in society. But, it later developed into something else.

But, it did provide some type of connection to my photography endeavour. I’ve always thought that the labour that employees of all kinds do goes unappreciated. There is no mystery as to why everyone is on strike. Even though they are constantly present and right in front of your eyes, they continue to be invincible. It was my goal to promote them to the public.

I can still clearly recall my final day in Chennai, where I was raised. Around 30 degrees was the weather, and I didn’t mind at all. Then, on September 17, I arrived here. I’d say it was approximately 14 degrees. I left the airport while still flaunting my hoodie.

I witnessed the first snow three months later. When I got home from the University at 7 o’clock in the evening, it started to drizzle. By ten o’clock, I returned home, prepared dinner, and opened the window blinds. Then I noticed it. I witnessed everything. Outside, it was white gold. I made calls to all of my buddies, asked them over, and we got to work building snowmen.

The following day, as I travelled to the university, I noticed that the usual path was blanketed with snow. It seemed strange. Can’t explain it in words. Just have a look at the pictures.

I spent a half-hour waiting for this one particular picture since I appreciate it. I noticed these two red poles on either side, and I can see a red bus approaching from that direction. While waiting for the bus and practising with my shutter, I previsualized my frame and captured the moment I was hoping for.

Days passed, and I was still lacking an idea. After a week, Christmas vacation was ready to begin. I had the notion of collaborating with street performers in and around Kingston. I had intended to ride the train that day to the university, but the strike caused the trains to be cancelled. One more ordinary day in London. I, therefore, intended to travel to Kingston by bus. At that point, I noticed some workers fixing potholes by the road. I approached them and chatted with them, requesting permission to photograph them.

They posed for me right away after agreeing to it. As you all know, I usually attempt to incorporate the surroundings into the composition of the images. The primary purpose of the image was to honour the good deeds they are doing for the neighbourhood. At that point, the thought of memorializing the work KUSCO does for our university first entered my head. Nana was impressed when I presented her with this proposal at our subsequent meeting, and she offered advice on moving forward.

When I decided to travel to the UK to do my MA in Photography, I was scared. Determined of course, but scared.

Then this project materialized. Even though I’ve never really printed any of my photos before, seeing such enormous prints of my work now just makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something. Simply put, the emotion is indescribable. When I first spotted them on the wall, my heart skipped a beat.

Then, a passerby who saw my photo exclaimed, “Wait. You took the photograph? That’s incredible, man. You did a fantastic job “and he snapped a photo of it.

And that’s my tutor cum mentor Sean running in the background making sure everything is picture-perfect ( pun intended)

Trust me. Do something with pure heart, love and passion and enjoy the process. That’s all that matters.