The mirror of society

Just as art, photography is storytelling too. To tell a story, you need to dig deeper into the incidents and capture the intangible — the background, culture, personalities and emotions of characters. Using his exceptional eye to spot what lies behind a normal background, Mumbai-based photographer Prashant Godbole tells stories like none. His street photography works are unusual tales.

“Photographs tell stories like no words can ever capture. Street photography is like holding up a mirror towards society, capturing the life of a moment on film, making room for instinct, telling a story, making you smile. It tends to be ironic and often surprising. My job and passion are to create images. Life is my biggest inspiration,” says Prashant, who runs an advertising agency in Mumbai.

A person who loves to doodle and paint, he considers photography a hobby. Noted for his socially relevant photo features, including, the one at Kashmir which reveals a lesser known side of the state and his documentation of the survivors of 26/11 attacks, this trained visualiser/art director shed lights on unpopular lives. “All my advertising work reflects what I see around. As an artist, I observe people and their diversity, traditions, culture, their affection, happiness, love, greed, lust, joy and fear. The only way to make sense out of it is to plunge into it, move with it, enjoy and find a connection with the moment. While photographing, you are capturing your own perception of the events.”

Quizzed about his dream project, he says, “I need to create 20 good photographs in my lifetime. I don’t have a single one yet. Till then, I will keep clicking.”