It’s 6 a.m. Seated on a wooden box that would later transform into a vendor’s flower stand, I take notes as a group of photographers discusses aperture, wide angle, add-on lenses and other photography terms. Standing amidst them and steering these conversations is Srivatsan Sankaran, the host of the Mylapore Street Photography workshop.
“What steps should you follow before photographing a stranger?” he asks. Permission, says one of them. Maybe candid would be better, adds another. “Permission it is. You need to make them comfortable with a brief conversation and then request to photograph them. Of course, there are some who will ask for money in return, but that is a part of the game,” he responds, with a tone of assuredness from having been there and done that.
By 6.15 a.m., the walk begins, as do devotional songs from the Kapaleeshwarar temple, nearby.
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Srivatsan is the quintessential engineer-turned-IT employee who realised he had a passion for photography. Of course, it wasn’t a smooth ride. He waited for months, unsure of how to proceed, but eventually, decided to take the plunge by travelling the bylanes of Chennai, and villages across Tamil Nadu, capturing both traditions and culture. Then on, there was no looking back. He joined DCP Expeditions, a Mumbai-based wildlife photography training academy, and earned his first break with Nat Geo, when his photographs were selected for the Daily Shot Photo Contest. In 2012, he won the ‘Shoot the Frame’ award, which recognises international photographers and their work every month.
Three years on, Srivatsan feels that travel photography as a revenue stream is challenging. “I hardly make much. Instead, I do wedding and product shoots to save enough to travel.” He also runs his own blog, srivatsaaphotography.net, and spearheads Madras Photo Bloggers.
“Photography is about capturing the right moment,” he declares. Having been the unseen guest at the Kumbh Mela, the Dussehra festival at Mysore, Ganesh Chaturthi in Mumbai and more, he narrates an incident from his travel to Barsanaduring the Holi festival.
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“There, women chase men away with sticks. Men also sing provocative songs to invite the attention of women.” It then transpires into a wild Holi, with streets filled with people dunked in coloured water and flowers. “I was at the risk of being beaten myself, and damaging the camera. But, it was worth it,”he says.
By 9 a.m., Mylapore is abuzz with an energy that dissolves even loud conversations. We take our last sips of rose milk at Kalathy News Mart, and part ways, leaving the streets to offers stories aplenty to hidden lenses waiting to capture them.