Where I'm From & Where I Live Now

I was born and raised in New Delhi, India and spent a large part of my adult life there. In between, I lived in Canada for 2 years where I went to school for Tourism & Travel at Mohawk College and worked at a boutique hotel in Jasper, Alberta. I then got lateral entry into a final year degree program in Singapore where I lived for about 11 months before moving back to India. 

In 2015, I finally got the opportunity to call Canada home again, this time with Shreya, my wife and partner in creative crime and we now live in Toronto, Ontario.

How Photography Happened

You never forget your first camera! I got my Kodak KZ25 in 2003 for about 1200 rupees which was quite a lot of cash for 2003, at least for me. I absolutely loved the anticipation of seeing the negatives come alive and found it somewhat mystical. 

I then graduated in life and bought me a "digital" camera; a swanky Canon PowerShot and it was a DREAM! I'd snap everything from flowers & streets to cakes & people. It actually wasn't until the summer of 2012 when I laid my hands on a DSLR (borrowed from my wife's friend) for the very first time, that I knew I had to have my own. Which I did; as a wedding gift from my in-laws!

My penchant for stories remained a constant through all of these years and I cherished listening to people narrate tales of nostalgia, childhood, food memories, underdog success, the marvelous 80s & 90s and so forth. Photography was an obvious career choice as it would enable me to marry my obsession for stories with my love for the lens and here we are. All romanticism aside, being a new immigrant in Canada came with its fair share of adventures and financial obstacles and I would have never thought I'd give up my Bay street job to take a plunge into the world of freelance photography!

What I've Shot In The Past & What I Specialize In Now

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Believe it or not, my very first paid shoot (with zero professional experience/portfolio) was for a big-shot corporate mogul that wanted to put up one of his showrooms on the market and wanted pictures of the storefront as well as the vicinity. Along the way, I've shot family portraits, landscape, pets, products, babies, prewedding photos and even a live music concert (where I forgot to carry ear plugs, can you believe that?) 

I now focus all my energy on food & beverage photography. Coming from a country as diverse as India, both in terms of culture and food, coupled with the fact that I studied and worked in the hospitality industry, the foray into food photography was pretty organic now that I think about it.