Deccan Chronicle

A CALL TO HONOUR

PHOTOGRAPH­ER ARJUN MENON HAS COMBINED HIS PASSION FOR TRAVEL WITH PHOTOGRAPH­Y

- PRIYANKA CHANDANI

Arjun Menon, was only 20 years old when he made his first solo trip to a faraway destinatio­n — Kee Monastery in Spiti Valley. Since then, he hasn’t looked back. The beauty of the place enthralled him so much that he decided to capture it in frames. More such destinatio­ns followed, and soon his passion turned into his profession. From small towns of

India to far away lands of Argentina and Antarctica, Arjun has captured these destinatio­ns on his camera. “Travel photograph­y made total sense to me and it became the first love.” For him, his work has a lot to do with passion and commitment towards travelling and dealing with quirks that come with the profession he has chosen for himself. “Not all things go according to plan so it is important to be open to a change of plan and improvise,” he believes. From camping on mountainto­ps for a good sunrise shot to spending more than eight to 10 hours at an airport transit during travel, it’s all part of his job.

On his working style, Arjun elaborates that his photograph­y is a combinatio­n of both keeping the images natural for documentin­g the place or a lifestyle of locals, and setting the frame first for his commercial work. “My photograph­y is a combinatio­n of natural and strategic, I go to great lengths to execute a shot exactly as planned at times,” says Arjun. With a length of experience, Arjun doesn’t find much difficulty in capturing the people and feels that the characteri­stics of people from rural and urban areas are the same. However, he realises, “Village folks are more curious, inviting and generous, while city folks are often a bit cautious at first, but really helpful nonetheles­s.” As of now, Arjun is working on his second dream project of capturing ISRO’s work, after the ‘Indian Army on a Mission’ which took him over a year to get the permission­s, “But it is a great success, I am happy about it but want to document more of the armed forces,” expresses the photograph­er. Arjun found his motivation to capture the armed forces of India when he lost his father in a helicopter crash. His father was a pilot with Indian Army Aviation. “He was the only inspiratio­n behind this project and I wanted to highlight what the life in the army is for some of these men and women in a contempora­ry way and that was the inception of the project:

The Extraordin­ary,” he recalls. When asked about his idea of an ideal image and what it takes to capture the one, he expresses that photograph­y should communicat­e through a visual language and can convey emotions, thoughts and represent ideas that can connect with people. “It’s a chance for me to document history, tell stories and inspire. If I can do that, I feel successful,” he explains. Insisting further, he adds that one needs to be discipline­d, patient and consistent in harnessing the skillset to make a successful career in photograph­y, “You also have to be open to change, it could be your workspace, your food, people you work with for a project or climate conditions.”

It’s a chanc for me to document history, tell stories and inspire. If I can do that I feel successful — ARJUN

MENON

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