NISHANTH RADHAKRISHNAN
Interview by Arhantika Rebello
A photographer of remarkable versatility, New Delhi based Nishanth Radhakrishnan’s work was recently featured in Dazed as well as i-D where he was acknowledged as one of ‘20 rising photographers from across the globe to follow’.
In this profile interview, we get to know him as a photographer, where he started, what inspires him and his work towards capturing and archiving the disappearing indigenous traditions of India.
“I prefer not to perceive my shoots as successes or failures. Every experience is learning and an opportunity for growth.”
To start off, where did it all begin?
Photography was a happy accident. It was never a part of my childhood. My uncle was into photography, it was his hobby. He made a switch to digital when it just hit the market and he was looking to give away his film camera. I just happened to be there, one of those rare visits I had made to his place in Bangalore. He taught me the basics then and there, loaded a film, and that was the beginning.
I was fascinated by the process of film photography and I used to travel around with friends shooting random things, figuring out the medium. In one of our local travels, my friends and I happened to visit a village in Tamil Nadu devastated by the Tsunami. The photographs I shot there were featured by the National Geographic, and that’s when I thought maybe I could do this for a living.
How would you describe your photographic style?
I believe that my style is constantly evolving.
Tell me a bit about your choice in subjects and why you choose to shoot them?
It’s nostalgia, a feeling of reliving my childhood. My parents moved to Chennai very early in my childhood. They rented a house close to the beach, in an area that was then outside city limits. There were very few people living there and all of them knew each other. We could hear the ghostly sounds of the crashing and receding tides at all times. The area was rich with the fisherfolk community and over the years people from varied social circles started to settle in. There were movie stars, politicians, the middle class & the fisher folk, all living, and dancing to the same tune of the sea.
I made friends with all of them. I spend hours watching the fisherfolk sort their daily catch, the working class starting their days with rushed prayers at the box sized temples in every corner and the inaccessible lives of the rich behind high walls. Everything fascinated me and today my subjects are the everyday and mundane things in life, the common man - his confrontations, fear and drives. Common threads of kindness and compassion make these shared experiences in my travel all across the country special and allows me to appreciate life better. Having left home and seen more of the world, I realise now that the sound of the sea that seemed like background noise is the root note for the song of my life.
What’s it like being a photographer in India today?
I think it’s a great time to be a photographer in India today. There has been a rapid growth in technology and its reach in the last 10-15 years, and that has made photography accessible to all. I feel that India is still in her early phases of growth, and there is so much potential waiting to be tapped into. The communities, the people and the opportunities around the industry are building slowly. It’s a game that will benefit from patience and focus.
What is it that drives you and your photography?
Many things, nature first. I can spend endless amounts of time watching animals, birds, trees – everything about nature is inspiring to me. Creativity drives me. Healthy competition in the industry drives me. The whole experience of becoming a tiny part of the lives whose stories I capture drives me.
What do you shoot on?
Depends on the project and sometimes my mood. If its digital, Nikon D810 is my tool of choice and for film photography, it’s a 35mm Nikon FM 2n and Mamiya 645.
Is there a creative process behind planning your shoots?
In fashion and commercial shoots, the creative director comes up with the first draft of the concept and mood board. I go through them and I share my thoughts on it and after some back and forth we finalise on a mood.
For my documentary and personal work, it’s usually an idea from a book or a dream or just things that fascinates me. There is no detailed planning, sometimes you will catch me doing research for hours but sometimes I just pack my bags and take things as they come.
Talk to me about your work featured in Dazed!
The story that I did for Dazed is a fraction of a bigger series I am working on. The images are of the Hindu festival Dussehra in a specific cultural contest in Tamil Nadu. The festival is a mix of the Aryan and Dravidian elements in Tamil Nadu s folklore. I grew up in an environment of rich cultural and religious legacy. Even though globalisation has caused unprecedented social and spatial transformation of Indian cities, manifestations of modernity have always coexisted with tradition in India.
As a photographer, I feel committed to archive indigenous cultures and traditions and observe their visual distinctness. Many of these art forms are fast disappearing as they are costly to perform and due to out-migration of traditional performers to the cities in search of better pastures. The project emerged out of my larger creative pursuit to visually document some of these endangered art forms and unfamiliar performances and bring out their unique visual characters.
Images shot for DAZED
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