Dare to do it | Shresth Gupta | TEDxBIT Noida

Key Concepts

• Color Blindness: The speaker is a color blind photographer, specifically unable to distinguish between shades of red and green.
• Introversion & Communication: Photography served as a medium for the speaker to communicate silently, overcoming challenges with introversion.
• Freelancing Journey: The narrative details the speaker’s transition from a corporate job to a full-time freelance photographer, specializing in wedding photography.
• Emotional Connection in Photography: The importance of capturing genuine emotions, particularly in wedding photography, is a central theme.
• Self-Evaluation & Continuous Improvement: The speaker emphasizes the need for constant self-assessment and learning in artistic pursuits.
• The Power of "Doing": The importance of taking action and embracing imperfections over overthinking and dreaming.

From Engineering to Emotions: A Photographer’s Journey

Early Life & The Spark of Photography

श्रेष्ठ गुप्ता, known as ‘कलाकार’ on Instagram, is a photographer by profession, despite being an engineer by education. He identifies as color blind, specifically unable to differentiate between shades of red and green. He has been practicing photography for seven years, focusing on capturing love, laughter, landscapes, and lifestyle moments. He showcased several photographs, including a viral image of a differently-abled person on a ramp, a portrait of Bollywood actress कल्कि (from ‘यह जवानी है दीवानी’), and early photographs documenting everyday life – smiling faces, Indian weddings, and interactions between people from different communities.

The Genesis of a Passion: Overcoming Introversion

The speaker explained his initial motivation for pursuing photography: a desire to communicate without words. He was an introvert who struggled with basic eye contact and found photography to be a silent medium for connection. As he stated, “To communicate with people silently, and photography was it. Photography was my medium to communicate with the rest of the world in silence without even speaking a single word.”

The Initial Struggle & Resourcefulness

His photography journey began in 2019 during his second year of college. Lacking a camera due to financial constraints – a typical middle-class family situation – he initially attempted to earn money through coaching classes to save for one. This plan failed, leading him to utilize the Kanpur tradition of “जुगाड़” – lending, borrowing, or leasing. He secured a camera from a friend, शशांक भैया (a chartered accountant), in exchange for a small favor.

Early Practice & First Professional Opportunity

As a beginner, he photographed everything around him – sunrises, college life, sunsets – uploading his work to social media without any formal training. While lacking professional knowledge, he received both appreciation and criticism, gaining visibility. This led to his first paid assignment from an agency, shooting a campaign. He accepted the opportunity despite lacking experience, prioritizing the chance to practice photography. This marked the beginning of his freelance career, working with agencies during his college years.

The Corporate Detour & The Realization

After completing his engineering degree, he secured a job at Mahindra & Mahindra in Pune, enjoying a stable corporate life with a good salary, supportive colleagues, and work-life balance. However, he felt something was missing – a disconnect from his passion for photography. After 117 days, he resigned, sending an email to HR at 3:00 AM, without providing a reason.

His manager, रिदिमा, questioned his decision, highlighting the benefits of a corporate career path – promotions to Assistant Manager, Deputy Manager, Manager, and beyond, with increasing perks and responsibilities. She warned him about the lack of future prospects. The speaker recognized this as a “trap” – a comfortable but unfulfilling path. He wanted to avoid being confined by responsibilities and prioritize his passion.

Rebuilding from Scratch & The Wedding Photography Turning Point

Returning to Kanpur, he initially concealed his resignation from his parents. He exhausted his savings to purchase a new camera and restarted his freelance career. After facing questions from his father, he secured a six-month window to pursue photography, with the understanding he would return to a stable job if unsuccessful. His parents valued predictability and stability, having invested in his education and wanting to see him succeed in a conventional career.

His journey took a significant turn when a friend requested him to cover her wedding. Despite having no experience in wedding photography or team management, he accepted the challenge. He assisted established wedding photographers, learning about equipment, lighting, and the industry’s workflow. This experience exposed him to the realities of wedding photography, including delivery timelines and client expectations.

Finding His Niche: Capturing Emotions

The wedding assignment proved pivotal. He realized his passion lay in photographing people, love, and genuine emotions. He observed that wedding settings provided authentic emotional displays, unlike staged photoshoots with professional models. He articulated, “I wanted to photograph people, love and people in love. I wanted to photograph people they are most vulnerable.” He understood the importance of making subjects comfortable to capture their true feelings.

Building a Brand: Stories by कलाकार

He then hired three freelancers and covered the wedding. This success led him to take a bank loan of ₹1 lakh and establish his company, “Stories by कलाकार,” with the tagline “Painting Love with Light.” He built a team of 12 creative professionals and has since covered over 75 weddings, capturing over 14 lakh clicks.

Lessons Learned: A Photographer’s Philosophy

The speaker concluded by sharing several key learnings from his journey:

• Lifestyle, Not Just Profession: Photography should be embraced as a lifestyle, not merely a job. His work-life balance shifted dramatically, requiring flexibility and adaptability.
• Long-Term Vision: He was fortunate to recognize early on that photography was a lifelong pursuit. He encouraged others to assess whether they could envision themselves doing something for the next 20-25 years.
• Expand Your Perspective: When facing challenges, consider tweaking your approach rather than abandoning your goals.
• Self-Evaluation is Constant: Photography is a continuous journey of self-assessment and improvement.
• Embrace Imperfection & Take Action: Overthinking hinders progress. It’s better to take action, even if imperfectly, than to remain stuck in contemplation. He emphasized the importance of making mistakes and learning from them.
• The Value of Criticism: Distinguish between constructive criticism from fellow professionals and positive feedback from friends and family. Be your own best judge of your work.
• Details Matter: “The devil lies in the details.” Thorough self-assessment reveals areas for improvement.
• Dare to Do: Often, less talented individuals achieve greater success because they are willing to take risks and persevere.

Concluding Statement:

He ended his talk with a powerful quote: “A picture speaks a thousand words, but a thousand words is a lot of noise. A photo whispers.” He emphasized finding silence through the lens, thanking the audience as ‘कलाकार’ signing off.