Rishi Amatya

Camera: Canon 40D

Lenses: Sigma 18 - 200 mm, Canon 50 mm f1.8

As a child roaming around the gallis (lanes) of Patan that crisscrossed the city like arteries, I stumble upon quite a remarkable sight. It was deep winter and the fog haunted the anciently narrow alleyways. It just hung there, kissing the alleyways so wetly that you had to be carefully when you walk, lest you slip on those ancient cobbles. I looked up, an old timer was watching the world go by, smoking a hookah. The glug-glug sound of the hookah filled in on the silence. It was such a beautiful moment. “Ah,” I remember thinking to myself, “I wish I had a camera to take a picture of this.” Don't know how I came about to that thought. My distant cousin brother worked as a photographer and I had seen them lock themselves in the dark room for hours of stretch. I didn't think much about it then, about photography. Fast forward it by a decade (and sprinkle some more years according to taste). That'd be the time that I got my first camera (paid out of my own pocket, too. Well, not necessarily…) 

I had started working as a writer; the idea of working for your own pocket money was quite cool. Until exams called calling into my doorsteps, I had to beg my editor for leave then. Shashank (who has already been featured in V.E.N.T! Magazine) was also working as a writer. He had a cool camera (Canon S3 IS) and was already at god status. Almost every day he would present us the shots he had taken the other day. Some guys might prefer bling jewellery; he wore his camera like one. He had it on at all times and snapping like mad. (This is important lesson, guys, if you want to take good shots, take your camera everywhere with you) 

It didn't take much for his enthusiasm for photography to spread, just like a deadly virus. It must be a coincidence when at the exact time I was starting to get interested in photography, I hit a jackpot. My uncle called one day, “Oii, you have a balance of (insert couple of thousand rupees here) at your disposal. It’s on fixed deposit and you’ll have to go to the bank to extend it for another year.”

“Ummm...,” I asked, “can I buy a camera from that? Just wondering, it’s not that I want to, but...”

“Sure!” My uncle's voice cracked through the ear piece. “It's your money. Do what you see fit with it.” 

Woot! I remember doing the Johnny Bravo dance after that. So, I put in my month’s salary into it and bought a cool camera, Canon S3 IS. And hence began my journey into saying, “Say, cheese” before I shoot people. 

And, what a journey it has been. It has taken me places that I could not have imagined. It opened my world into a new dimension. It made me open to possibilities. The most important thing about photography that I have found is that it reduces distance between two people and prompts understanding. Have you ever seen anyone who frowns when they see their beautiful picture? I haven't too! 

Another thing that I cannot stress enough is that if you are an artist (photographer, writer and people of the same taste), then share your work. Don't let your works die a slow digital death in your computer. That is why space like this is very, very important. Share your works with others, listen to their feedbacks and their opinions and respond. Respond to each of them. Let them know what your creative vision is. Challenge yourself, take pictures from another angle if you are a photographer; write differently if you are writer. 

To challenge us, me and my friend Suyog have started a pdf book that we mail to our mailing list every so often. Most of the times, it's simple stories pickled by pics taken along the theme. If you are interested to read or glance through, we'd love to hear it from you. Email us at airbrush.amuse@gmail.com. Give us a howler if you want our previous issues. Let us know what you think of it. 

 - Compiled by Shreyans Tamang, Creative Director, V.E.N.T! Magazine