Amrit Rivas: Speaking through his lens
Professional photographer Amrit Rivas only found his new passion a short few years ago but his work is fast attracting attention. Amrit specializes in portraits, light photography, landscape and fashion photography. The Scene
The first time caught up with him, he was shooting SAS Designs’ Fashion Show ‘Golden Treasure’.
Amrit who was born in Georgetown lived for a while in Zorg on the Essequibo Coast. He later returned to live in the city.
According to the former St Andrew’s Primary pupil and past Institute of Professional Education (IPE) student, even while he was in school he was never really sure what he wanted to do when he was older. He remembers well though, he was always the guy cracking jokes with his friends adding that he talked a lot back in school and was always “break dancing,” which he humorously said, he’s grown too old for now.
“I found my interest in photography when I was 19 years of age,” said the 22year-old. By 20, he got his first camera. “I remember too well the day I got my first camera…. it took two weeks to get to Guyana. It was the longest two weeks of my life, I would say. The first photo I took was one of the moon.”
Prior to getting into photography, Amrit had taken a liking to videography and did videos for special occasions up until his camera arrived then videography was put on a shelf.
His love for photography came after being inspired by the Cooperative of Photography (COOPH), an online magazine that recognizes and supports people passionate about photography. It is the very first brand to produce stylish and functional clothing specifically designed with photographers in mind. It also offers professional photography workshops.
“The way Cooph would come up with amazing ideas for shoots using household items to create amazing effects; that’s what mostly got my attention,” Amrit said.
“Photography for me is something I can do to take my mind off the stress that life tends to bring; it’s more of a hobby,” he said. And while photography may be just a hobby or something he finds an escape in, his expertise has brought him numerous jobs already.
The self-taught photographer explained that at first one of his challenges was having the shutter speed too low, where his photos would blur, while having a high shutter speed produced dark photos. Spending time learning his camera, he quickly caught on and in no time he was getting the shots he wanted, knowing just the right shutter speed depending on the object he was taking and the velocity of it. And though that would have been a quite an accomplishment for him, he couldn’t celebrate more when he got photography lighting right; life as a photographer got better with that.
Apart from his photography, Amrit is a graphics designer, creating logos, business cards and fliers and because of this profession, he enjoys dabbling in graphics whenever he edits his photos.
It was photography that took him on trips around Guyana capturing its wonders