Mumbai Portraits is a photography platform that tells stories to the world in the form of a captured frame. The goal of its founder, Krish Khade, is to discover a few of the most magnificent portraits prominently from Mumbai and also other parts of India. This platform on Instagram is not only for photographers but for models and makeup artists as well. Having collaborated with several national and International brands, Mumbai Portraits has helped kick-start the digital careers of several photographers and models in the industry. It remains one of India’s fastest-growing pages about imagery. Take a look at what the founder, Krish, had to say about his journey.
Interview
Questions and answers
Talk to us about the ignition of this idea. How did the page come about?
The idea came to me back when I was young in photography and pursuing my diploma. I was on social media back then, too, and realized that there was almost no page dedicated to Indian photographers to help them start their digital careers. Of course, some pages featured their works; but that was it. I wanted to do something bigger than just photography. I wanted to do something for every profession in the modeling or camera industry. I thought that covering the works of an entire country would be very challenging and perhaps beyond my reach, and so I started by only documenting photographers from Mumbai. So that was the beginning of Mumbai Portraits, in 2017. At first, like other pages, I too; only featured their works. Eventually, I started organizing competitions on YouTube like Portrait demonstrations, where every artist would learn from the other. This created opportunities for models and photographers to do paid work for small brands. Today, we organize photo-walks outside the city as well.
We see some posts in other locations as well. Why the title, Mumbai Portraits?
At first, we only started featuring and working with people from Mumbai and around. Over time, as we grew, there were people from different states and cities who wanted to be featured on our page. What we did was we decided to feature artists from outside of Mumbai in this series called Special Features. But that’s not as much as Mumbai-based artists get on our platform.
The images on your profile are a little different than other photography-based patterns. You don’t just share pictures- there is always a message in them. Is that how you look at it too?
Yes! Thank you! When we look at entries to be featured, we make sure that the post will have something to take away from— like a message or dynamic creativity. So yes, Mumbai Portraits is much more different than other photography pages on Instagram, because we have managed to bag plenty of collaborations with both national and international brands. And this has helped our followers or artists somewhere to grow in their careers.
Tell us about your love story with photography and images. What other art forms do you indulge in?
“Photography is a love affair with life.” If you’ve been to my page on Instagram, you must have read this quote in my bio. And so, that is the premise of my relationship with photography. Even if I’m not capturing pictures, I’m always working for and with other photographers. The only other art form I indulge in is being happy!
Who inspires you and your work?
My family is and will always remain my prime source of motivation. The 59.9k people that follow Mumbai Portraits make me think and push my boundaries even further. I always keep thinking, what can I do next for them? I actively aim at working towards my relationship with my existing followers, and not towards gaining more of them.