City-based photographer Parul Sharma left her high profile communication job with a reputed TV network to pursue photography full-time in May. Recently, she had her first photo exhibition, which got her rave reviews.
As someone who discovered the delights of photography unintentionally while travelling mostly on work-related assignments, it’s the passion that counts not the remuneration for her. “I was travelling in and around the country often and they were mostly solo trips. One constant companion was my smartphone with a nice camera. It all began as a casual fascination with people and places, which I encountered. I began capturing it all. After 14 years of my job, I couldn’t feel any passion towards my work while photography made me feel energetic and enthusiastic. I hope that I do well commercially as a photographer but it’s the journey that matters more,” says the self-taught lenswoman.
Explaining how the photographer inside her works, she says, “I don’t have a frame in mind like people go to Leh Ladakh for picturesque locations or Rajasthan to click gorgeous tribal people there. The picture comes to me, for example, in the form of a flower, in a vase kept in a neighbourhood café.”
Her recent exhibition had only black and white images. About the absence of hues, she says, “Most of my works are abstract and about architecture, and capturing them in black and white frames highlights the beauty of the images. Colour images would have been very cluttered but having said that, I equally like colourful images. Similarly, I haven’t done human or figurative images that much but never say never. I am drawn towards architecture with special focus on art décor and bauhaus. I sharply absorb good aesthetics around me.”
