AS a college student, who used to spend a lot of her time clicking portraits of her friends, adding her unique ideas and the weirdest photo filters, Upahar Biswas had no idea that it could also be a prospective career option for her. From then to now, things didn’t change much except that she gets hired to create imageries based on her unique sensibility and using her own filters.
"Having my own style of work has always helped me. My interest in photobooks and simple ways of storytelling visuals have inspired me to create my own imagery, draw my own canvas. My favourite part of any shoot is to fill up an empty space with props and subjects to tell a story," elaborates Upahar.
But choosing a precarious career path as photography was not without hiccups. “My parents are two extremely different people from one another. While my father has always encouraged working for oneself than working for others, my mother prefers an organised life with a fixed salary. But my brother helped a lot to bridge the two minds,” adds Upahar.
The spunky girl studied Bachelor of Multimedia in St. Xavier’s College and also wrote a thesis on photography. “I like to conceptualise my shoots and tell a story. It has been a conscious effort to convey a message through the images, as anything without a story is quite meaningless to me. Also, I love minimal yet colourful imagery. It’s both fun and challenging to balance the two. Before shooting a model, I try having a conversation to feel the energy. I like to bring out the energy and strength through their portraits,” she tells.
Among the models whose pictures she submitted for this column, Upahar feels that Eshna Kutty has a great energetic element about her and has a pair of well-travelled eyes. "I loved how Neera looks so subtle and strong at the same time, which is true to her identify. Karuna is a poetry and she has this strange energy of turning anything into art while Jupiter looks simple and natural in the pictures,” tells the lenswoman who wields a Canon 5D Mark IV.
Upahar Biswas can be reached at 81014-07081. or biswasupahar@gmail.com Instagram handle: @upaharbiswas
Karuna Ezara Parikh | 36, height: 5 ft 8 inches
A writer, former model and television anchor, Karuna always puts comfort first when it comes to personal fashion choices. Being a nature and environment-conscious person, she tries to keep her choices limited mostly to sustainable clothing. When it comes to traditional and formal occasions, she prefers wearing saris always and chooses from her wardrobe full of traditional handwoven weaves. “When I dress up, I like to wear tons of interesting jewellery and I prefer wearing earrings and long chain necklaces. I like them mostly in antique silver and I love the stuff made by Eina Ahluwalia,” tells Karuna. Her personal make-up style is minimal and she wears nothing but sunblock and a little blush, tells the leggy lass who loves to read, trek, knit and discover new bakers.
Instagram: @karunaezara
Neera Sarkar | 25, height: 5 ft 8 inches
A fashion model, author and anchor, Neera recently discovered her distinct sense of fashion, which is very elegant and sophisticated. “I love monochromatic outfits with neutral colours and lots of textures and I love wearing satin, silk, chiffon and I live for fur coats,” she tells us. Neera is equally mad about saris and loves wearing them at every given occasion. “I even wanted to wear one at a New Year’s Eve party this year but I fell sick and couldn’t join the celebrations,” she adds. Neera shares that while growing up, she suffered from low self-esteem and had issues with her nose, skin texture and mole. “But later, I realised they make me who I am and I grew comfortable with them. Hence I don’t like wearing much make-up and instead, go for the no-makeup look. I am very picky about accessories and love raw crystal accessories besides oxidised, stone and wooden ones,” tells the girl who loves to read, watch movies and grow plants.
Instagram: @the_lilac_moon
Eshna Kutty | 24, height: 5 ft 3 inches
A renowned hoop dancer and founder of Hoop Flo, Eshna loves comfort clothing and mostly likes to be in oversized pyjamas, leotards and fitted tops when it comes to daily wear. Her favourite colours comprise various shades of vibrant pinks and yellows. But when it comes to traditional wear, saris are her only choice of attire. She likes to accessorise her nine yards with big chunky earrings. “I really don’t know much about make-up and I don’t experiment much with the same. Usually, I keep it limited to mascara on my eyelids only,” tells Eshna, whose hobbies include flow arts, hooping, playing guitar and slack-lining.
Instagram: @eshnakutty
Jupiter | 27, height: 5 ft 4 inches
A freelance model, Jupiter’s personal fashion choices depend essentially upon her mood and vary from light fabrics to winterwear in all hues of pastels. But on a daily basis, she loves to be in her comfortable and loose pyjamas. When it comes to traditional wear, Jupiter prefers stylish sequin lehengas to anything else. She is in love with different kinds of interesting hair clips and small ear tops. Make-up for her means well-done cat eyeliner and her hobbies include baking and gardening at the moment.
Instagram: @thatgirlfromjupiter