Here’s BananaBandy’s guide on getting a head start into the world of photography

After the proliferation of photography in Europe around 1939, it didn’t take long for it to travel east to India. The port city of Bombay took to photography like a crocodile to crying. The Photographic Society of India is celebrating 75 years of existence, showing us the advent of this art in our country. If one looks around, the number of exhibitions showcasing photography is now more than ever before. Photography has evolved into the modern era in India with diverse fields and a great market, providing amateur photographer with lucrative job prospects.

 “Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever…it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.” – Aaron Siskind

Scope of Photography in India

With the booming of the fashion industry, communicating networks, advertising media, and digital photography, a career in photography is both challenging and one with great commercial value. India’s wedding photography industry is valued at a phenomenal $30 billion dollars, with a growth rate of 15-20% every year. Some of the popular photographers in India are Dabboo Ratnani, Raghu Rai, Roycin D’souza, Raghubir Singh, Homai Vyarawalla, Pablo Bartholomew, etc, who have all worked relentlessly in the varying fields of photography (photojournalism, landscape photography, fashion photography, etc) leading the way for many hopeful amateurs in our nation. A countrywide survey tells us that the requirement of freelance photographers and photo-studios are at an all time high, even a genre as obscure as ‘avant-garde’ can land a pretty sweet deal with a collector or a magazine. What a time to be alive!

Choose a Specialty

You can’t be a Jack of all trades and master of none. Most photographers prefer to specialise in a particular field of photography than dabble in all when they are just starting out. Here are a few fields that you can start with:

Fashion & Advertising Photography

An attractive field for glitterbugs and glamour Nazis alike. Here the majority of the work is done with models (another incentive). You can look forward to shooting for advertising agencies, fashion houses and fashion magazines.

Nature & Wildlife Photography

In this field, the photographer must work with waterfalls, landscapes, wildlife and interesting shades of nature. A passion for nature is certainly helpful in this field while the work can be used for travel and geographic magazines, calendars, etc.

Still Photography

It is the art of capturing inanimate, man-made or natural objects. Portrait photography is a good example. In this field, pictures of products, brands, recipes, objects, pets, children, etc, are taken. These pictures can be used by advertising agencies, magazines and for personal use.

Travel Photography

This field requires the adventurous type who aren’t bogged down with long security checks at airports or bumpy, off terrain car rides. Travel photographers can work for the hospitality industry, travel websites and various magazines.

Press Photography

In this field, the photographer would have to work with a journalist, clicking opportune pictures to compliment the articles. This field is for those who think they can work under pressure, and work under horrid situations. Their pictures are never staged. In the words of famous war photographer Robert Capa: “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough.”

Salary Guide

Photography is one of the few fields where age and college degrees aren’t nearly as important as having creative talent, a keen eye, and self-discipline. Making it a career choice is a great decision as one would get paid for their creativity. Due to its easy accessibility, photography is a competitive field, and one must be ready to start small, but with practice you can perfect your craft and make a portfolio with your best work. A photographer on average earns Rs. 2,97,047 on average with no experience, and the pay increases steadily over the next 10 years. Experience is extremely coveted in this industry. On the other hand a freelance photographer can rake in an average of Rs. 25,000 for a month and can earn much more overall. Jobs including fashion and product photography are the ones with the highest pay, statistically. The demand for well-trained photographers far exceeds the supply, and makes this career choice a lucrative one.

Formal Education in Photography

Photography is taught at several levels of programs, provided by a good number of institutes in India. Majority of these institutes give traditional courses in photography while some offer photography as a secondary subject in a course (Bsc. Animation for example). Depending on the person’s preference, courses range from time duration of 7 days to 3 years. It all depends on the person’s level of commitment and convenience. Upon completion of 10+2 level examination, one can enrol for a Bachelor’s degree, Diploma or certificate program in the various fields of photography such as motion picture photography, fashion photography, photojournalism, etc.

Here are the top photography institutes in India

National Institute of Design (NIT)

Ahmedabad

JJ School of Applied Arts

Mumbai

Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University

Hyderabad

National Institute of Photography

Mumbai

Xavier Institute of Communication

Mumbai

Film & Television Institute of India

Pune

Delhi School of Photography

Delhi