The woods are silent save for the chirping of birds and thesoft but distinct click of a camera shutter. A Giant Wood Spider, in itsglorious orange and black finery, is immortalised.
The woods are behind Ashwin Shukla’s house, near the defencecolony in Porvorim, and are one of his favourite haunts to photograph creaturesof the wild. Get him to talk photography and this 21-year-old’s eyes light up.“I began photographing at a very young age and I used film. I draw inspirationfrom Mattias Klum, whose work featured in the National Geographic, among othermagazines.” Mattias Klum is a Swedish freelance photographer who has undertakenmajor expeditions, the latest one spanning Rwanda, Tanzania, India, Malaysian Borneoand Greece, in 2012.
The pit viper expedition led by Nirmal Kulkarni,herpetologist, wildlife photographer, and founder of Herpactive (anorganisation that aims to promote the science of field herpetology “ the studyof amphibians and reptiles), was Ashwin’s introduction to wildlife and insects.He recently participated in the Kuveshi Herpetofauna Trek, in the forestsaround Kuveshi Village, where the group photographed and documented reptilesand amphibians. The data was compiled into a research paper.
Ashwin won first place in the theme competition ofPhotoFlare, an international photography competition organised by thePhotography Club of Goa Engineering College. The photograph of a bird takenfrom among tree trunks, aptly depicted the theme ‘Freedom’. “Photography to memeans painting a picture with light and making the picture look good. I oncespent an entire hour following a butterfly and trying to take a perfectphotograph of it,” he says.
Besides photography, he also shoots short films. “The filmSmartphone was my first experience with films,” he says. The film “ about acareless boy who spends all his money to buy a phone and is left penniless “directed by Viji Varghese, won second place in the 15-minute category of theIFFI Short Film competition, Chotta Cinema.
Currently pursuing a degree in Zoology, Ashwin aspires tofurther advance his skills at the Film and Television Institute of India. “Iwant to be a cinematographer and a job at National Geographic would be a dreamcome true.”
