Exploring the inner reality

Hailing from Aziz Nagar, Hyderabad, Sreesailam Pasupula has received more than 30 international awards for his candid work in photography. He has won the Grand Prize at the ‘Lonely Planet International Contest in 2010’. He also won the Travel Scholarship to attend ‘Exposure Photography Festival’ in UAE, 2016. He has showcased his work in numerous countries at various exhibitions.

Recently he showcased his latest works in an exhibition titled ‘Transcendence’ at ICCR Art Gallery, Ravindra Bharathi. Speaking with The Hans India, Sreesailam shared his passion in photography.

Sreesailam Pasupula started his career as a wedding videographer in 1997 and later took up photography. “I was inspired by photographer David Alan Harvey who works in National Geographic Channel in 1999, and I decided to take up photography as my career. Later, I did a photography course in Chennai in the year 2000 and subsequently started my own studio in Hyderabad, where I majorly did wedding photography.

I went to Mumbai to study Craftsman Diploma in Professional Photography and Digital Imaging. After the course, I traveled several places in India and captured the images of Indian culture, people and places,” said Sreesailam Pasupula.

From the past eight years, he has been covering the celebrations of colourful festival ‘Holi’ in Mathura and Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh. He added, “Photography is about capturing the language between people and places,”Speaking about the concept of his recent exhibition, Sreesailam said, “I captured all these pictures in places like Vrindavan, Varanasi, Assam, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Mumbai, Sharjah, Orissa, Nagaland and Agra. All these photos explore the inner personality of the subjects.

When you observe the photos, you will understand the inner reality in it,”His pictures are not about light and shade, colour and contrast or compositions of subjects and objects but it’s all a prayer. An offering, where ordinary submits to the supreme and that is the solace of his efforts. In his images, ordinary appear extraordinary, simple becomes profound and the mundane becomes holy. They are still and silent.

Sharing his experience in participating for the Timothy Allen Travel Scholarship Award, he shared “It was an amazing and unforgettable time of my life, spending time with world famous photographers like Timothy Allen (7 times winner of Travel Photographer of the year), David Alan Harvey, Don McCullin, Tom Stoddard and Erik Almas,”“I usually send my captures to various photography exhibitions in the world.

Capturing a perfect photo can take a split second sometimes and some can take 20 days in it all depends on patience. Many renowned photographers tried to capture the Sandstrom of Mathura during the Holi period and have waited for years. But luckily, I got the pictures in my first attempt,” informed Sreesailam.

He concluded, “I am planning to do numerous conceptual projects in future. Today, good photography has become normal and everyone is looking for outstanding, the standards of photography have increased a lot.”