Artist of the Week - Mayur Channagere
Mayur Channagere whose work has been published in Vogue, Rolling Stones magazine and The Rock Street Journal magazine, is the Principal Photographer and Founder of PhotoMojo is An AGNA Venture. He took photography as a hobby in 2004 when his grandfather gifted him a 25 year old Yashica Camera.
Born in 1977 in Bombay, he did his schooling in Davangere and Mysore, PUC in National Collage Jayanagar and did his BBM in SSMRV-Bangalore, he went on to do his MBA in University of Hull, London. He came back to India in 2001 after a stint in the UK.
He is diverse when it comes to photography covering from lifestyle photography, wedding photography, editorial, environmental portraiture, interiors to fine art and travel photography. He has been working on a Tyagaraja's who is considered the father of Carnatic music. Through the photo essay he is trying to document how Saint Tygaraja's life is being celebrated today through Carnatic music and Vedic Celebration. He has also been working on a Every day Hero's and a Little Earth's, where Every day Hero's is about common people doing extraordinary work without any intension of rewards and Little Earth is about 360 degree panoramic of ruins and places to make it look like it is suspended in mid air.
Isshani and Gitanjali his two lovely daughters mean a world to him and considers his wife Priya his boss, who takes care of the numbers relating to PhotoMojo. At PhotoMojo they consider themselves as storytellers rather than photographers since they try to get to tell a story out of every photo, capturing and freezing the moment forever.
He had worked for 12 years in various companies, the last being Infosys working as a Senior Consultant for solution designing, taking care of re-engineering and supply chain part of it. While he was with Infosys he travelled extensively to US on work and was given a chance to relocate to US in 2009. He riskily made the choice to quit and gave himself one year to pursue his dreams. This was not so much of an overnight move. He had carefully planned and calculated to quit work to take up photography but had to speed up the process due to this offer from Infosys. There was no turning back after this. Infosys had also given him an open offer letter which he agrees was a cushioning, had he not succeeded in his venture.
In 2004 Mayur's grandfather found a Yashica camera which he bought 25 years back when he had been to Germany and gave it to him, this is where it all started and stirred up dreams. His actual inspiration comes from a simple reason, when he looks at his family pictures he finds them incomplete - a void (like wish I had captured those moments with my late father ) and this he fills by photographing others ensuring those emotions are captured for them. He believes photographs are there to document history to remember the moment. He says a photographer should be selfless and not to go behind glory of it, that is when you freeze the best moments for it is selfless and glory will follow. He also goes on to say photography takes him to a state of a Tapas the ultimate redemption. He is also concentrating on cinematography now, a natural extension after photography.
The turning point for Mayur was when he started Bangalore Photography Club in 2004 with few friends, this gave him an opportunity to learn from others and take photography to a professional level. He says he genuinely learnt the basics and nuances of photography through this club. They also came up with a coffee table book called a Bengaluru Mandi's- the hidden hues of Bangalore Market which was a collaborative effort of various members of the club documenting Bangalore markets for 1 ½ years. His photographs were displayed in a Frames of Minda's in 2006-07 both organized by Bangalore Photography Club.
Mayur has only taken part in one competition till now! a Digital Photograph of the year 2010's UK, and won the landscape photography contest in the same. He has photographed more than 300 artists from Pt.Ravishankar to AR Rehaman in India, even covering International bands like Jetro Tull, Boney M, The Scorpions, Iron Maiden and more. Shooting live musicians in concert gives him a rush. He say's Where there is music, there is raw energy. Working real time - in an air tight box a with no margin for error a with a split second to visualize, compose and capture the end frame a and if you miss that one moment a you've lost everything. I love the challenge's. He cherishes even now, his first paid assignment to shoot Iron Maiden, getting a chance to watch, listen and photograph them from the press pit.
He uses only Nikon cameras and he has: Nikon D800, Nikon D600, Nikon 24-70 2.8, , Nikon 14-24 2.8, Nikon 80-200 2.8, Nikon 50mm, Nikon 85 1.4 and a Nikon 24 - 120 F4.
Mayur likes travelling and exploring a lot. He had been travelling to Cambodia every year for the last 4 years. He has also travelled to Leh, Bangkok, Spiti Valley, many south Indian temples and more. He is also planning to go to Myanmar this year. He travels to relish the culture and history of civilizations.
For more photographs of Mayur click here: Mayur
For Facebook page of PhotoMojo click here: FB PhotoMojo
To connect to Mayur on Facebook click here: FB Mayur
