Ever since photographer Subashini Vanangamudi discovered a passion for underwater photography four years ago, she’s been toying with the idea of using buoyancy as a tool to create out-of-the-box portraits of children in a setting of their liking.
The underwater setting, apart from contributing to the creation of a set of unique pictures, also helps keep children in a playful mood which, in turn, is reflected in some of their priceless expressions.
Shot inside a make-shift water tank, Subashini says the light-heartedness of it all made it easier to shoot children — “something that’s usually much harder”. “My daughter, too, has posed for a picture on the condition that I let her pug be part of it too,” she says.
A joint effort by Subashini and a few like-minded mothers, she says it took at least one hour to take a picture after the setting was decided on. “The key is to let the kids be themselves. Of course, we had to make sure they don’t get too naughty and restless resulting in a muddy pool, but they were at their best behaviour, especially the youngest, who was just two,” she adds.
With most of the kids not knowing how to swim, the photographer also looks at it as an initiation to the sport. As for her next project, Subashini is getting ready to shoot family portraits underwater.
