“I believe art exists in everyday life and requires us, as artists, to look at it with the right eye. I am very fascinated by finding different angles, capturing them, and presenting them to the audience.
My interest in photography started in my school days. I went to Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet, and was the school Newsletter editor in my final year. I, therefore, had to capture a few pictures to include in the newsletter. I carried a small compact camera all around the campus that my father bought which would fit in the front pocket of my uniform, and those were the beginning days of my photography journey. I traveled to England to study economics and politics after finishing school. I was the president of the photographic society and worked as a part-time photographer throughout my graduation. I was therefore always in touch with my creative side of photography and that stuck with me through the course of years. I later spent a year working as an oil trader before realizing this is not what I want to do.
After a year I left the job, took a break, and came back to India. That was my first instance as a full-time photographer, and it has been 11 years on this ride. My friends and I initially began producing wedding videos and pictures. Eventually, I launched an official business named Weddings by Kishor in 2012, however shooting weddings has been going on for 10 years, and we have finished 500 weddings in a decade.

I was able to meet new individuals through wedding photography and document their lives. I do adapt many of the aesthetics and lessons from documentary photography to wedding photography.

In 2014, I, therefore, went to a photography course in Mussoorie that was led by a Spanish photographer. When technology was growing rapidly in that period, they spoke about the importance of print media and how it made you slow down and appreciate everything in a better way than scrolling within seconds on social media platforms. It elevates your experience as a consumer and a viewer and makes you spend more time looking into the details of the photograph.

Eventually, I started publishing my photo magazine, Concorde, in 2015, which is India’s first photo magazine of its kind. Here, I usually focus on mundane elements and try to portray them in detail. We do it more as a means of distributing high-quality print pictures to individuals across the broad sector than as a means of making money.

Concorde magazine’s most recent issue is devoted to cuisine. We divided biryani into four components: rice, salt, meat, and spices. We visited Guntur, where chiles are most famous for the process, Warangal, where rice is farmed, Kakinada, where salt is extracted from the sea, and Kalwakurthy, where goats are raised on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Geographically, we divided these four distinct locations, and we documented them. This magazine is one of our most ambitious projects to date. Later, I came across an interesting idea regarding the camera straps.

When we buy a camera, we do get a default strap with it and the fact that it is made of rexine material, which is highly abrasive on the skin and especially irritating in Indian summers, shows that it was not made with comfort in mind. Eventually, I realized, why not do something regional and handcrafted that combined practicality and aesthetics? I came up with ikat camera straps that feel nice to our skin and can be worn for long hours. It is also fashionable because of the different patterns and colors. Initially, we went to Pochampally to buy some sample fabrics and went down with the further manufacturing process.

My family has always trusted me with my decisions from day one, and they have stuck with me through thick and thin. Regardless of my career, photography has always been a part of my life, even in my early years.
All I want to say is that photography as a career has advanced significantly since we first got into it, and because of social media, it has become much more mainstream and accessible to everyone. From a hobby to a full-time career, there is a learning curve. Commit yourself and understand what you are getting into.”