A few years ago, when Abhishek C Jayaprakash was watching a video of a breathtaking Kashmir during the autumn season, he had the idea to travel there. Without further adieu, he booked a flight to Kashmir to catch a glimpse of the golden leaves on the Chinar tree. Abhishek is not a nomad or a hipster. He is a travel and a landscape photographer, who travels miles to get the best shot, and refuses to settle for anything less.
A BSc Computer Science graduate, Abhishek was never fond of the mundane corporate culture. The moment he picked up a camera, the artist in him knew that is his passion. “Since the beginning, I was eager to capture landscapes, so I started capturing wildlife. As years passed, I realised the peace and tranquillity that nature offers,” says the Thrissur native who also ventures into fashion photography.
The snowy hills of Manali, rocky hills of Goa’s Arambol standing tall against the milky way at night, Nusa Penida beach in Bali where blue, salty waves lash out on the rocks, two native men on a boat cutting through the backwaters of Kerala — Abhishek’s frames are right out of fairytales. “Being able to click such surreal images has always been my dream. I was heavily inspired by the desktop wallpapers and notebook covers I saw growing up. I want my frames to look more than reality,” says Abhishek.
His NFT series, ‘Nature Colour of Spirit’ and ‘Nature never goes out of style’, are odes to his close association with landscapes and colours. Cool undertones with a tinge of blue and green linger in his pictures. “I have tried to capture waterfalls that are not widely known in Kerala. I have always felt that people just visit such waterfalls, they don’t soak in all of their beauty,” adds Abhishek.
Being able to photograph the candid lives of people enables him to deliver beautiful images. Another one of Abhishek’s NFT series, Portrait to the Wall, captures the stories of six people from Rajasthan. Of them, Abhishek was influenced the most by a frame that shows a man on the train. “It was on my way back to Kerala. It was raining outside and the man was leaning against the window and staring into the wilderness. When I showed him the picture I took, he told me he’s going to Kerala in search of a job, hoping it will help him defeat the mountain of the financial crisis he is in,” he says.
The youngster’s 21 photographs were sold on Opensea and Foundation platforms.Abhishek aspires to continue with travel photography. “Despite the tremendous effort, I am always motivated by the possibility of a picture-perfect shot. That is what keeps me going,” he concludes.