Surat’s creative community is ever expanding, and that includes a strong line up of freelance photographers who are having their own offices or working from shared co-working spaces. Be it Fashion, Food, or Travel Photography, these talented shutterbugs are supplying us with a lot of photographs to showcase their unique perspective. Deciding the top five new talents for this article was a conundrum for us because all of them are so great.

After covering Interior Designers of Surat, this time Coworq brings you a list, in no particular order, of young photographers – some seasoned veterans and some who just started – you should know.

1. Mehang Desai

“Opportunity never knocks your door twice, seize the best of it.”

Mehang Desai took this saying literally and instead of appearing for his CA final exams, grabbed the chance to showcase his photography skills for ‘Winter Affair’ event happening in Surat back in 2016. Since then he has never looked back and continues to enthral us with his photography.

Having no formal training in photography, he organized an Insta meet-up few years back, where both, amateur and professional photographers came together and captured same things differently. It became a platform for him to understand more about photography as he came across many skilful and accomplished photographers in that meet-up. Having gained enough knowledge, he then founded Fotowale which specializes in wedding shoots.

He believes being fearless and taking calculated risks in his life got him to this position today.

2. Dikshit Mundra

“Be the citizen of the world than just being of a small town.”

This is what travel photographer Dikshit Mundra said in his TED Talk at Manipal University in Jaipur. Being a self-taught photographer, he is renowned for his spectacular landscapes, cityscapes, and conceptual portraits. He is also co-founder of Streets of India which is an Instagram based photo travel blog with more than 5 lakh followers.

Remembering his childhood, he mentioned about his father’s ritual of taking him and his siblings out on Sundays to have fun and capture the moments in pictures which made no sense to him at that age. Years later, when he asked him what did he get from taking their pictures, his father just gifted him a point-and-shoot camera and told him, “I don’t really have an answer. But I can give this to you. Go and find your own answer.”

Two years passed and he still was not able to figure out the answer. One day, while casually browsing through the net, he came across a TED-talk about photography and that was his epiphany towards this crazy ride of capturing pictures!

Life is not always planned but it just finds a way to come through without you even expecting it,  just like he didn’t think of photography coming his way while all the time he was planning to become an investment banker instead.

3. Siddhant Jain

Just like a typical Science student, Siddhant was keen about being in IITs and NITs but perhaps life had some other plans for him. “Everyone’s become an engineer, let’s try something else.” This was told by his father who filled his NIFT form without his knowledge and today, he is a graduate from the prestigious National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) Kannur, who is working as freelance Fashion Photographer.

When we asked him which picture is he proud of from his diverse portfolio, he shared that while doing his internship with a popular Fashion magazine in Mumbai last year, he clicked one picture of the flag from the top of the head over bridge which went on to be the cover of article about LGBT community.

Photography, for him, is about being at the right place and at the right time with little creativity. And that little creativity is the important part. He feels that everything you click, can be weaved around a story, which is what makes photography so beautiful. There’s never a bad picture, it is always a different perspective which others might miss out seeing, he added lastly.

More about his work on https://www.instagram.com/the.bearded.soldier/

4. Piyush Bharoliya

After completing his graduation in Computer Science, Piyush went on to pursue Advance Diploma in Visual Effects & Film Making. Being a film maker, the adrenaline rush after capturing something breath-taking to showcase inspired him to take photography seriously. His family, who was apprehensive about his career choice earlier, would now be surely proud to see him grow exceptionally in a very short span of time.

His forte is Food Photography and we are certain that you would not have any doubt believing it once you check his Instagram. He has shot for leading cafes, restaurants and food joints in Surat and his current projects include Meraki – The Coffee House, Blue Basil, MCA Ministry of Chessy Affairs and Chef Dolcee’s Cooking Studio.

One should feel the vibe of the place or situation when you click a picture, this is what he believes in. On talking about motivation, he says that the ‘Why’ behind the things he is doing, keeps him moving forward in his career.

5. Bhumi Kelaiya

Like so many other things in society, photography is also seen as crowded place for men but breaking this stereotype, Bhumi Kelaiya has already craved a niche for herself in this male dominated sphere. This Computer Engineer turned photographer feels fortune to have support of family when she left the conventional job to follow her dreams.

She draws inspiration from people living their everyday lives. Mundane activities become portrait for her when she looks beneath their surface. When it comes to photography, she trusts her intuition and reflexes. Being an emotional person, she personally loves street photography and revealed that she gets attached to people, their lifestyle and situations very quickly while shooting.

According to her, the important aspect in photography is the perspective which defines the vision of a photographer. You are never sure when it is right moment to capture, you can either pick it or it’s gone and she is striving to treasure all the right moments.

Check out her work here.