Jignesh Chauhan commercial portrait photographer
How did you get into photography/what is your background?
I kind of fell upon photography luckily, while growing up I was always interested in sketching I’d carry a pencil and a mini A5 pad with me everywhere and try and sketch everything and anything. While my father would go around photographing landscapes or anything eye-catching as he used to be a wedding photographer in India and kind of kept his passion going when he moved to Birmingham in 1980.
So it was inevitable that I would fall into loving photography just as much as he would if not more. I wouldn’t class myself as a photographer bound to a certain style because I’m as they say a loose canon ball I just love photography too much to just stick to one part of it so I spend most of my time capturing everything and anything whether its people, landscapes or products.
How would you describe your style of photography?
This is a hard one but lately I’ve really been into photographing people for a living, whether it’s weddings, portraits or the odd few photoshoot opportunities. One thing that’s always at the forefront however is the lighting I always have this urge to do something different or tweak a light here or there it’s like battling myself to near perfection and then doing it over again every time.
What equipment do you use?
I use all sorts depending on how I’m feeling or what mood I’m trying to create, for my wedding or events work I’m currently using a few Canon DSLRs paired up with fast prime lenses as I end up photographing in low light situations most the time.
For my studio work I use a set of strobes from the Bowens pro range but lately I’ve invested in some elinchrome rangers, which I haven’t had a chance to use properly yet. And for modifiers I use a few soft boxes, parabolic umbrellas and beauty dishes, which has to be my go to modifier as of yet.
One of my favourite cameras at the moment however has to be my trusty little X100s, every time I use it its like falling in love with photography all over again I’ve also photographed a few fashion shoots with it and weddings as it gives me that amazing sync speed when parried up with a few flashes.
But if I’m photographing on the streets of Birmingham you’ll most likely find my old Medium Format Bronica around my neck or the Fuji film x100s.
Who/what has influenced your work?
My influences come in all sizes and shapes, I’ll flick through a magazine or see a book cover and just get excited to re create it or pick up a few ideas from it. Pinterest is also a place where I find myself most the time while travelling or between breaks on a photoshoot But if I was to name a few other artists it would firstly have to be Dave Hill I still look at his photographs today and I’m instantly inspired by them or see something I haven’t seen in them before and this is after viewing them for the 100th time. Chase Jarvis is also someone who influences the way I think about photography he just has this cool aura about him and his work and the way he goes about orchestrating his photoshoots.
What would you like to try more of in your future work?
I would love to create a few planned photoshoots, almost like re creating a film set and telling a full story from a start, middle to an end within one frame, I’ve been jotting down ideas for the last 2 years but I guess its time I started making contacts with local designers, stylists and choreographers.
Do you have any ideas on how photography in Birmingham can be developed or ideas for events?
I came across a cool project carried out by Chase Jarvis called the Dasien project, which involved him using a hotel basement to showcase random snapshots of the daily lives of people living in Seattle. Something similar in Birmingham would be amazing.
Where can we see more of your work? Website/facebook/twitter/flickr/ current exhibitions?
You can catch some of my work on my website www.jchauhan.com
