“I always enjoyed the art of storytelling. Studying journalism helped me explore all the forms of media,” shares city-based photographer Sushmitha Tadakamadla who is making a mark with her visual montages of food, fashion and people. From breweries to magazine covers and photo shoots for newly opened food joints, the 24-year old’s images are striking due to their eye for detail and the usage of natural elements as part of her visual narrative.
Lamb chops
An alumnus of St. Francis College for Women and Bharati Vidyapeeth’s School of Photography, the young photographer shares, “My instant connection with photography happened because I came across images that moved me. The beauty of expressing an image through a still image fascinates me till date. It is an adventure of playing with a 3D space and transforming that into a 2D image. Photography has helped me overcome my fears and inhibitions as well.”
Sushmitha shares her foray into photography, “During my first year of under graduation, The Hindu had allowed us to write a story on any subject. A classmate of mine and I had done a story on the celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi in Hyderabad and created a small documentary film. I was lucky enough that the story got published. My father gifted me a camera then… and that’s how it all began!”
Her first campaign was titled Breaking Stereotypes which celebrated people who broke the societal stereotypes of men. It was a series of photographs featuring Eshan Hilal — India’s first male belly dancer, Zeeshan Ali — a body artist and a makeup artist and Alex Mathew — India’s first drag queen. She recalls, “Studying in an all-girls college (St Francis) and an almost all-male photo school (Bharat Vidyapeeth), I got to experience the best and worst of both the worlds. And these experiences made me understand deeply about the societal stereotypes. One should have the freedom to express themselves without any hesitation.”
Breakfast parfait Sushmitha
As a photographer, Sushmitha says she enjoys capturing food and people. “To me, food is the one thing that brings people together. The conversations that I have with people over food are the best conversations. The play of colours and textures in food fascinates me the most.” she smiles, and goes on to add, “Other than food, I also enjoy capturing portraits. The beauty of body language teaches me every day and that understanding helps me to learn about a person and capture that essence into a photograph.”
With photography becoming an increasingly competitive field, what does it take to stay ahead of the curve? She ponders and answers on a thoughtful note, “I believe that a photographer’s style or aesthetic reflects largely upon their personality and the experiences they draw from life. We just have to be brave enough to believe in these experiences and translate that into our work to make us unique.”
Admiring the work of pioneering photographers like Stacy Pearsall, Steve Hansen, Arjun Kamath and Eva Kosmas Flores, Sushmitha plans to build Hyderabad’s first prop store for food photographers and food stylists one day.
As our conversation comes to a close, one wonders if being a woman in photography adds a certain element of sensitivity to her work? “I think photography has no gender. But, at the same time, I feel it is very important to work on personal projects as well to bring out the inner personality out. This largely reflects on your commissioned work. The personal projects helped me get over the challenges I faced internally and this reflects on the bold attitude I maintain in my work.” she signs off.
