In our lives, we all have moments when we were
on the edge and we needed something to save us, maybe a person, a book, a
destination; for Aparna, it was Photography. A woman photographer built her own brand
named “Panache Photography.”
But this is not something she dreamt about
becoming in her childhood days. Back in school she aspired to be an Air hostess
and we all know that comes with the perk of travelling around the world, so she
had that traveller trait from the beginning.
Aparna K
Warrier hails from Mumbai, a city of dreams, inspirations and million stories. She
says “You just need to sit in a corner of a busy street & observe & you
will find so many inspiring stories, so many unsung heroes.” We say every
picture tells a story and it’s true, it is about real people, real things.
She holds
a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Media and is a postgraduate in Advertising and
International Marketing. She started photography when she was in college,
something that was supposed to be a part of academics but later became her
passion.
She qualified
for a job before even completing graduation and went on working in corporate
for 6 years. She lost touch with the one thing that she really enjoyed doing.
She finally decided to get back to it, she took a break from her office routine
and started taking up small projects.
Her first shoot was a kid’s birthday
party. And the best part about it is she loves capturing moments with kids. She
finds them adorable and says “they are the best subject, challenging but cute!”
And these little memories are her favourite.
Five years
ago if I asked you to list 10 female photographers, it would have been
difficult to think of any spontaneously. Photography is still a male-dominant
profession but now people don’t undermine your skills based on your gender.
Aparna adds a really funny story to this. Once she got hired for a wedding
shoot by the bride. On the day of the wedding, she went around capturing
moments. While she was taking pictures of the groom and his family, he wasn’t
aware that she was a professional photographer or maybe having a female
photographer was not so common back then so he asked her why she was taking
pictures of him and then luckily the bride walked in and clarified the
situation. So now you know being a female photographer is not a regular job.
Another
fascinating detail about her is that she is a Tarot card reader; she did a
course when she was in her covid isolation period. She also launched a website
for the same.
Travelling
comes with a lot of new opportunities for her. She loves exploring the culture
and local history of the places. She has been to a few parts of India and also to a few countries around the world. Each journey came with new learning.
She is
into landscape, street photography and has started clicking portraits recently.
Her photographs have been regularly featured in Mumbai Mirror which is a city-based paper and part of The Times of India publication.
There
was a phase when she had none of it, she had no camera, lens, or even a source
of income to afford any of this. Emotionally she was at her lowest, everything
was falling apart. But it was the constant support of her friends and family
that motivated her to get back on her feet.
She took a loan, bought a camera
and today she is a successful photographer who is currently the Director of an
outdoor advertising agency in Mumbai and does selective photography projects. She
says “I was persistent and I never gave up on it just like how photography
never gave up on me.”
This all
came from self-learning and with a little inspiration from other photographers
and creators present online. She has a message for all the aspiring
photographers “Fame is secondary, practice is important. Keep practicing your
art and don’t be deterred by failures.”