BEHIND THE FRAMES OF DREAMS

Three LENSWOMEN share the TRIUMPHS and CHALLENGES they face inhabiting an artistic expanse replete with beauty, ART, commerce and, above all, FASHION.

- SIMI KURIAKOSE

Anushka Menon

It was as a 16-year-old pursuing a foundation course in arts, design and communication in Australia that Anushka stumbled upon a photography module and, in turn, realised the power in image-making. Anushka (39)—she was born in the Indian capital but raised in Muscat—learnt not just the nuances but also the range and scale of the art form in a two-year professional course in collaboration with the International College of Professional Photography (ICPP), Australia, at a Delhi-based college in 2003. While her love for fashion photography developed during this time, her first paid job, she recalls, was with an Indian magazine that onboarded her to shoot the profile of a leading Delhibased bakery’s owner. “By the time I graduated, I connected with models, designers and was soon working on look books, campaigns, editorials, etc.”

In a male-dominated industry such as fashion photography, there is a tight frame of challenges that the opposite gender faces, and Anushka— she has moved to Goa from Delhi in 2016 and is now juggling two of her passions, music and photography, as part-time professions— mentions confronting a few and more. “Initially, language was a barrier for me since I would mostly communicate in English. Also, working with an all-male team can come about with its own set of complications—some people don’t take you seriously or don’t want to take orders from a woman. Of course, there were others who were great...they recognised my talent. I also found a team that supported me—I still have the same team I had 15 years ago,” she adds. The business side of things wasn’t easy for her either: “I had to spend my own money to create a portfolio.”