World’s Most Dedicated Photographer – Vishnu Raveendran
Six to seven years back when I was in class eleven, I remember all of a sudden DSLR cameras came into trend and in few years, every young person started buying their own DSLR cameras. I was one of them as well. When I was in my first year of engineering, planning to drop out of my college, I got a DSLR for myself and that’s how the journey begun. From a bad learner, somehow I managed to be a learner in the past 4 years.
But this interview is not about me, but of someone who is very well known in the world of photography and also has been honored with the title “World’s most dedicated photographer” by Google itself.
We are pleased to have Mr. Vishnu Raveendran aka Vishnu Whiteramp as per his Instagram handle, in our interview.
Welcome Vishnu. First of all, it’s our pleasure to have you with us for this short interview. Though we didn’t expect that you would be available, but I guess we got lucky somehow.
Q- So Vishnu, I believe every photographer on Instagram and internet, whether an amateur or a professional must know how great, unique and hardworking you are in your work. But I guess everyone would love to know that how did that journey begun?
Ans– Actually Photography was a passion until 5 years. But eventually the practice polished my skills and people started appreciating my works. This reaction motivated me and I became more and more consistent with my works. And finally the time came when it became my profession and life as well.
Q-Was it in you since you were young or was there any incident that made you curious and excited about cameras and photography?
Ans – From my childhood I guess was more into art and creativity. I always loved drawing and painting from the beginning. Then slowly I got my hands into digital painting and then photo editing. And that was the time while playing around with photographs when I started seeking and learning camera tricks, editing tricks and a whole lot from YouTube. And yeah, that’s how it begun.
Q- Were there any tough times when you felt like you might not get there where you wanted to be and may be you made a mistake in choosing your path? What were the ups and downs in your journey?
Ans- Yeah! There were such instances when I felt a pinch of giving up but, you can never give up something that you really love or something that comes from within you. So I didn’t.
I guess such hard times are part of learning and growing.
There were times when I made some real mistakes, but again I think it’s not only me, everyone makes mistake and everyone learns from the mistakes only. It’s just whether you want to work on it and get better, or give up.
Q – If we look at your instagram profile, it’s not only photographs what we see. There are stories and unique concepts or I would say your personal touch into them, which makes it more appealing and creative. How do you prepare for such creative works?
Ans – In my shoots I always try to take pictures in my way. I don’t look for the trends or OOTD. What I look for is a story, a concept, a message or at least a unique feeling in my pictures. That’s what I emphasize the most on. Being creative and different from others is another thing that I keep in my mind. I usually love to make the arrangements during a photo-shoot by myself.
Q- Recently Google titled you as one of the “world’s most dedicated photographers” after that picture of you hanging upside down on a tree branch and clicking a couple went viral on internet. You also got verified with that beautiful blue tick mark beside your name on Instagram. How does that feel when you look back to the time when you were just a beginner or at the intermediate stage?
Ans- “The Batman Click” – That’s the tag with which it went viral all over the places on internet.
Actually it was a couple photo-shoot that I was doing and for a picture that was in my mind, I had to climb up on a tree and hang upside down to take the picture.
I uploaded the behind the scene video on my Instagram profile and it went viral all over the internet and social media. It received a lot of appreciation from many people which led to Google ranking me up with a tag of “world’s most dedicated photographer”. After that many printed media companies contacted me for interviews and they posted up about me on their websites.
I even got verified on Instagram after that, which was like a dream come true for me. I also got to connect with many celebrities whom I always admired and got chances to shoot with them.
Though “The Batman Click” clinched the victory, what people sometimes don’t see is that behind every photograph that you see, lies immense efforts behind it.
Q- I personally believe when you do something of your choice, putting your heart out into that work, life always offers you some wisdom. What are your lessons that life offered in this journey of yours till now?
Ans- Well I would say,
“Live with passion, work with passion and you’ll surely win”.
Another would be “Always keep trying”. That’s all what I did and I still do.
Q- How do you see photography as a career? Would you suggest youngsters and students to pursue it as a career?
Ans- Yes! Why not? It’s fun, creative, exciting and also it pays a good amount of money for that.
According to me, in current living world there is a big career in photography because; only photographs can freeze the moments that comes once in a lifetime. While people tend to believe marriages and birthday parties to be the special moments that they want to remember through photographs, I personally believe every moment of life is memorable. Whether it’s friendship, family, or just a random road trip, it’s a memory which you would love to look back at. And everyone loves to have these memories captured in form of photographs.
So truly photography is a big career in this new creatively evolving world.
Q- Last but not the least, what was your dream come true achievement as a photographer and what will be your next?
Ans- As I said, getting honored by the internet giant i.e. GOOGLE with the title of “World’s most dedicated photographer” was more than a dream come true for me. Getting verified by Instagram and most importantly getting so much of love and appreciation from people was no less than a dream.
My dreams still remains the same as it was. It includes trying new things, being a better photographer and come up with some meaningful and unforgettable pictures.
Thank you so much Vishnu for being with us. I believe the aspiring photographers amongst our readers will surely get some help and motivation for their journey, from this small conversation with you where you shared your experiences and valuable lessons that you learned from your voyage.
Once again thank you so much.
I want to be a photographer too🙁
As he said…the key is to keep trying. Your consistency will bring the glory over time. 😊