The series 'In the Spotlight' is becoming very popular and there is high pressure to come up with more inspiring profiles every time. Today we are sharing our interview with Joshi Daniel, which prefers to talk through visuals. So you would find shorter answers this time, with compelling photographs (all these are screenshots from Joshi's blog).
1. About you: Tell us about the place, where you were born; your education, and profession.
I am a freelance photographer based out of Kerala. Incidentally, my formal education has nothing to do with my profession!
2. Your photography experience: Tell us since when you've been taking pictures. When did you start taking photography seriously?
I started taking photographs and photography seriously 10 years ago.
3. What are your key areas of photography - travel/street/landscape/
wildlife/wedding/portraits/commercial? What makes you click? What have been your biggest achievements so far? What camera/lenses do you use and why?
I love capturing images of people—portraits and nudes are something I love a lot. Getting to capture different faces is really exciting for me. I use Nikon DSLRs (mostly with 85mm and 24mm prime lens), GoPro and iPhone. Since late last year, I have focusing a lot on new and innovative ways of using the GoPro. You can see a few of the images of people I have captured using the GoPro here: https://joshidaniel.com/tag/gopro/.
4. What is so special about your city/country and its life/culture? Has photography changed your outlook/vision about your surroundings?
India is so vast and so diverse in terms of its culture that there is always something new about the people I see every time I go to a new place. I think photography has helped me observe people in a better way.
5. What are your sources of inspirations? Do you have some favourite photographers? How do you keep yourself motivated? How do you approach people for their pictures?
Everyday life inspires me. When shooting on the streets I observe the person I want to capture before I decide to go and talk to the person or to shoot candid. Even if I approach them I will always let them do whatever they are doing and try my level best to not make them feel too conscious about my presence.
6. What piece of advice do you wish to give to aspiring/budding photographers, fans, and readers of the post?
I think I would suggest that it is very important to be a nice human being in the first place and not to get too selfish in the process of trying to get a shot. It is always better not to fake images.
If you liked this post and found it helpful, I would request you to follow these things when traveling -
- Manage your waste well and don’t litter
- Use dustbins. Tell us if you went to a place and found it hard to locate a dustbin.
- Avoid bottle waters in hills. Usually you get clean water in hills and water bottles create lot of mess in our ecosystem.
- Say big no to plastic and avoid those unhealthy snacks packed in plastic bags. Rather buy fruits.
- Don't play loud blaring music in forests of jungle camps. You are a guest in that ecosystem and disturbing the locals (humans and animals) is not polite
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