"Photography Is a Field Where Technicality and Creativity Merge" - Zishan Nabi

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1. Tell us about your background and journey

Born and brought up in Delhi in a very sophisticated Indian Muslim family. My father is a businessman and mother is a lecturer. I belong to the family of doctors and lecturers. choosing a career other than a doctor is a troublesome task and that too photography is next to impossible. 

I started brushing my photography skills while taking coaching for MBBS during my drop year. I left coaching in between and started attending photography classes and seminars. I went for journalism(Hons) next year. 

Then at the very starting of my college, I started doing paid internships and freelance work. I never stopped working during my college years whether it's a parttime or fulltime. I understood at the very beginning of my college years that college will do no good in my professional life. 

I went to college less often due to my office and work. And now it's been 4 years working as a fulltime fashion photographer and video editor.


2. How and when did you realize your passion for photography?

I am very certain at a very early age that I neither want to be a doctor nor a lecturer. But the question is, what then? I had no answer so I had to go for MBBS at the end. But during my coaching, I had found my answer. 

Photography and cinema have always been a part of my family directly or indirectly. And the credit goes to my father, my father has a leisure interest in collecting expensive cameras and films DVDs. Cameras have come very handy to me since my childhood as I remember. Photography is always inside of me, all I need is a moment of realisation.  


3. What are some tips you would like to share with amateur photographers?  

Take a moment to introspect and question yourself, Is this really you want to do it or you just have an interest in photography as a hobby because believe me, photography, like any other job, is a serious and hardworking profession. 

Fews tips I have learned during my working years:

Never stop working whether it's your college or personal life.

Try to grab every opportunity but choose wisely.

Never go for money. Money is a lure but waste at the end.

Surround yourself with people of the same profession. 


4. What are the important skills one should have to be a successful photographer? 

Photography is a field where technicality and creativity merge. You need to be creative as well as a technical person. A meticulous eye for detail. A good observer and an absurd aesthetic sense. Most importantly you should know how to see and appreciate art.


5. What are the various opportunities available for aspiring photographers?

The capital is full of opportunities for photographers and videographers. There are many YouTubers, Instagram influencers and digital companies who need photographers all the time. 

There are online shopping platforms who need photographers. Then there are events and PR companies and of course, there are news channels and film studios. There is an ample amount of work, All you need to be a good photographer. 


6. Which is your favourite book and why?

Ohh books, I love books. I don't have a favourite book as such but there are many books which influence my ideologies and expand my thinking horizon. Foremost is The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. Then there is Ariel by Sylvia Plath. 

Photographers should read books. Books provide you with different perspectives and fuel your creative thinking.


Interview by - Mahi