This is a sort of reverse migration: from the banality of professional life to art and the liberation it brings along. Only a few make such a brave choice at the right time and Toehold Client, Nikhil Unnikrishnan, is one of them.
After a stint in journalism, he quit his job in 2012 to pursue his passion in the field of photography after being sweetly ‘blackmailed’ by his friends to do so. And when Nikhil bought his first DSLR and a colleague’s wedding was round the corner to be photographed, his tryst with colours and light and shadow began.
With an almost enigmatic composure, Nikhil says that the journey has ever since been full of learning and innovation, even as his interest started to branch out into different genres.
Soon, Nikhil began making images of anything that piqued his imagination and shared them on social media. Without disturbing the natural state-of-being of his subjects at particular points in time, he always hungered to bring something unique to the table.
He says: “Creativity started to mean so different in different dimensions of the art. To come up with something new to the same genres of photography is such a constant challenge and I love to innovate. To give an edge of my perspective to someone else’s special moment to be frozen into a memory is exhilarating.”
Nikhil has been exploring new frontiers in photography, and has been into wedding photography (Myriad Hues Professional Services), jewellery, architecture, and macro photography. He also loves to capture pet animals and the human connection with them, and tells us that he wants to explore more in street photography.
For his second wedding photography assignment, Nikhil allowed a friend to lend some help and realised how executing his ideas was more than one man’s job. Now that photography allows him to travel to different places, Nikhil concentrates on delivering packages of art to his clients, which also includes evocative videos, to let memories in motion bring a smile of rapture on their faces.
Nikhil’s unique way of chronicling wedding documentaries, with a charming storyboard brimming with delicate narrative details, has been a one-of-its-kind journey for him, and he works harder to be better at it with each passing day. He asserts, in an unruffled, self-assured tone: “There is always an option to be different even in a field as saturated as wedding photography. It’s about building trust and a long-term relationship with the clients and telling their story as convincingly as possible, without the least bit of facade to it. And that’s how I prefer my work to stand apart. It’s all about that extra mile we take to create and preserve moments of simplest joys.”
And Toehold has been a part of his journey in the world of photography by helping him hire the right equipment for his projects. He tells us that everyone he knows at Toehold is friendly and this ‘comrade-ing’ makes him want to keep coming back.
We wish him the best, and hope that more beauty and joy to waft in this world through his art.
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