Artist Statement
When I was nine years old, I went to the town of Kalimpong in West Bengal. When I woke up in the morning, I stumbled outside and found myself gazing right at the Kanchenjunga mountain. It was love at first sight.
When I started doing street photography, I always focused on people, the stories and the emotion.
So, if I were to describe myself, it would be as a storyteller. I combine photography with writing.
I love telling the story. Stories are magical. This is what I seek to create.
Stories.
Every story is different. Every story is unique.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME
My name is Rajiv Chopra. I live in the Delhi-National Capital Region of India, or Delhi-NCR as we call it.
My journey in photography has been somewhat convoluted, strange, and long.
I graduated as a metallurgical engineer from The Indian Institute of Technology at Kharagpur, and did my MBA from the Indian Institute of Management at Bangalore. Between the two, and after my MBA education, I worked in the corporate world. I have traveled across the world, and have seen many airports and meeting rooms in my life
However, I have been lucky enough to live in a few countries apart from my own (India). I have lived in England, China, Singapore, and for a brief while, in Switzerland.
I started photography in my early twenties. This happened because I had to clean up my lifestyle, and photography seemed a good way forward.
My father gifted me my first camera, an Olympus OM-2n. It cost me half a year's salary, so I am eternally grateful to him for this gift.
I started shooting in the streets, using black & white film. I quit photography for many years, and only resumed when I moved to China in 2002. At that time, I bought a Nikon F75, and my first digital camera - a Nikon D70.
As of now, I shoot with a Nikon D810. I use my Nikon D200 for digital pinhole work, and also use it to shoot the highways when I am traveling. Someday, I will buy a Fuji.
Apart from this, I have my Nikon F 75, my Olympus OM-2n, three medium-format vintage film cameras, two film-based pinhole cameras, and a Lomography Konstruktor kit.
My work focuses on landscape, nature, street and travel photography.
For clients, I also shoot interior architecture and portraits.
My first love is black & white photography.
I read a lot. What concerns me? The environment, social equity, education and leadership. In the near future, I will explore Zen.
I explore connections.
Oh, yes. You will find the corporate part of me on LinkedIn.
I have a sole proprietor firm called Aranya. In Catalan, Aranya means 'spider', and in Sanskrit, it means 'forest'.
A spider's web explores connections. This is what I like to do: explore connections, and weave stories from them.
Disclosure
Disclosure: for the sake of transparency!
I'd like to disclose that I am an affiliate of a few sites & photographers. I will add more when I remember them!
- Skylum
- Topaz Labs
- Exposure Software
- MacPaw
- AWeber
- Joel Tjintjelaar