{"id":32930,"date":"2019-04-29T12:20:05","date_gmt":"2019-04-29T12:20:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artzealous.com\/?p=32930"},"modified":"2019-05-06T13:26:59","modified_gmt":"2019-05-06T13:26:59","slug":"the-spellbinding-photographs-of-nishant-shukla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/the-spellbinding-photographs-of-nishant-shukla\/","title":{"rendered":"The Spellbinding Photographs of Nishant Shukla"},"content":{"rendered":"
Nishant Shukla<\/span><\/a> is a visual artist, photographer, and jetsetter; frequently bouncing between London and India with his camera. His personal body of work addresses questions of identity, origins, and essence and he commemorates images via peripheral moments, spaces, and people. Shukla entangles his experiences and art into his journey in which he is introspective and evolving as a person.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Shukla constantly putters all over the world and published one of his adventures into a book called <\/span>Seeking Moksha<\/span><\/em><\/a>. The content illustrates Shukla\u2019s personal journey focusing on the search for capturing the spirit of people he encountered on a pilgrimage to collect water for his grandfather. During this experience, Shukla hiked the mountains near the Ganga from 2011 to 2016 and his book includes findings, photos, and his travel diary from this self-reflecting expedition. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adding to his coolness, we love that Shukla co-founded a tangible project with four other artists called <\/span>BIND<\/span><\/a>; the purpose of the project is to foster new narratives and promote unique engagement with the photobook as an art medium. BIND is a platform for contemporary photography in the form of a public library featuring visually stimulating photo books in India. In addition to the five artist\u2019s personal collections, the books displayed in the library have been generously donated by authors, publishers, and institutions that believe in the commitment to share visual stories with global audiences while fostering discussions around the photobook as a specific form of expression.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Art Zealous sat down with Shukla<\/span> to take a deeper dive into his projects and quest for self-exploration. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Art Zealous: Art background?<\/strong><\/p>\n Nishant Shukla:<\/strong> I never finished school as I wasn\u2019t really interested in studying the science-based education that was expected of me at the time. Taking photographs was always a grounding experience for me, but I never thought of it as something serious.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n When I was 18, I saw a beautiful colour Polaroid of a friend taken by a photographer and I was fascinated by the idea of being a photographer myself, without any understanding of how to go about it. A few years later, \u00a0I applied to photography courses at universities never expecting to be accepted. Surprisingly, I received an offer even though I didn\u2019t know the name of a single photographer and I had never been to a photography exhibition. It took me a year and a half at university before I got hooked on taking pictures – my fascination was triggered by looking down at the ground glass of a film camera. I also had the wonderful opportunity to spend meaningful time with photo books at my photography tutor\u2019s personal library that influenced me deeply.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n AZ: Currently reading?<\/strong><\/p>\n NS:<\/strong> Been finding it difficult to read physical books. I\u2019ve been listening to Wanderlust: A History of Walking<\/em> by Rebecca Solnit as an audiobook at the moment.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n AZ: Phone background?<\/strong><\/p>\n NS:<\/strong> My phone background is a picture I took in 2015 of the midday shadow of tree branches on the ground in the Himalayas. At the time, I was collecting leaves and branches for a project I was working on near the source of Ganga. I couldn\u2019t help but notice how the vein of the leaves, the shadow of the tree branches, the tributaries of rivers and the arteries in the human body all followed similar patterns which allowed energy to be distributed. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n AZ: Favorite spots to shoot in both London and India?<\/strong><\/p>\n NS:<\/strong> I don\u2019t have any favourite spots as such. I think pictures appear almost anywhere you are willing to look.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n AZ: When you’re traveling back and forth between countries, what are you listening to?<\/strong><\/p>\n NS:<\/strong> I\u2019m listening to a lot of different music but not really in touch with anything new. \u00a0I like listening to a lot of early Iron & Wine on repeat and Leonard Cohen. Sometimes when I need to get something done and need an extra boost of energy, I listen to grime instrumentals, drum, bass, and techno.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n AZ: Please elaborate on how your body of work addresses questions of identity, origins, and essence.<\/strong><\/p>\n NS:<\/strong> A lot of my work stems from exploring a need for belonging, whether belonging to a community or a country. The process of creating this work allows me to contemplate my own purpose, place, and relationship with the world that I inhabit and encounter. Photography has always been the tool that legitimises this inquiry for me. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n AZ: How do you select the people you choose to capture on film?<\/strong><\/p>\n NS:<\/strong> Often times you just know that you want to photograph someone and then you have to ask their permission. I believe it isn\u2019t just me that chooses the people I photograph, but rather a collaboration where people choose me to photograph them as well. It is always a collaboration, we are always in agreement.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n AZ: Your portraits of people are gorgeous – how do you choose where to photograph them?<\/strong><\/p>\n NS:<\/strong> I used to be very prescriptive and controlling about how I photograph people, but that approach has changed over the years. Nowadays, I much prefer to be invited into a stranger\u2019s home because I find that interaction very interesting. The experience allows the subject to be both vulnerable yet open in a gently negotiated space where they want to be photographed.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n AZ: Your project Seeking Moksha<\/em> was published into a beautiful book. In your journey to create it, you were looking for people who seemed lost – what was that process like?<\/strong><\/p>\n NS:<\/strong> I had no idea what I was looking for. When I first started the project, I was mostly making portraits of the pilgrims that visited the locations. Throughout the six years I worked on the project, the focus and ideas kept shifting and changing. The timing was also a period of growth in my personal practice as well, so I was open to the project evolution. \u00a0So in all honesty, I felt like I was the one that was lost, and on that journey, I encountered other people that seemed to be trying to find their way as well.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n