An interview with Ahmedabad based architect and photographer, Atik Bheda

“Ahmedabad as a city holds architectural importance for it is home to pioneer architects and their projects that helped shape Modern Indian architecture. So personally, there’s a lot to explore and learn in and from the city.”

Atik Bheda is an architect and photographer based in Ahmedabad, India. He loves to find quirkiness in everything that crosses his sight. You might come across the same in his photographs. Being born and brought up in a small town Navsari to studying architecture in Hubballi and working in Ahmedabad has given him quite an insight into different lifestyles and surroundings.

This is what made him so inquisitive and sensitive about his surroundings. He clicked photos of objects, nature, and buildings from early age. Soon it became key point of his interest and he knew he wanted to do something in the field of design.

He has been experimenting with various genres of photography for more than 10 years and found his interest in Architectural photography. For him, Architectural photography is meditative, a prayer, a process to seek the absolute truth in the objects, materials and the built environment.

He believes in using his art and camera as a tool to capture the soul of the project, to make others feel what he feels - not just the outer aesthetic but the inner essence as well. The intention is to allow the light and nature to do its job in all purity as he does his, working in tandem to create a visual.

Hi Atik, I hope all is safe and well with you and many thanks for taking the time to share with our community.

Hi! It sure is getting better now. I’d like to thank you for giving me this platform to share my work with this growing community.

It was very kind of you to take time out for the M.mode community.

Can you tell us what has been keeping you occupied recently throughout 2021 and what your plans are for 2022 and beyond?

Well, since the start of the pandemic in 2020 and the first half of 2021, I took the time to observe, analyse and understand my work of the past years.

This introspection helped me figure out places that I can better my skill and art. Recently, I had the opportunity to shoot a school for a couple of days, which was a lot of fun. Apart from that, I have been working on building my portfolio and developing my passion into a business, which is now ready for the next stage. I am hopeful that 2022 has more opportunities for me to explore and a growing portfolio of work in my name.

It was a great time to reflect and to develop new skills. I feel the last 9 months has been full on for me, so on a personal note I need a little break to reflect again on the past year.

You have had your formal education in architecture and you are also a professional photographer. How did you find your way into both of them? Could you tell us a bit more about your past, your education and ethos?

I belong to a small town in western India - Navsari. As a kid, I was fascinated by the heritage buildings in my town, which added to my passion for buildings and led me to pursue architecture at an undergraduate level. This formal training helped me gain a sense of composition, proportions, sense of framing and understanding of light.

Being a student of the discipline helped me transform my enthusiasm for the built environment and creative imagination into systematic knowledge and comprehensive understanding. Although I have had no formal training as a photographer, being an architect gives me an inherent sensibility that helps me connect to the space I occupy and document.

An architect works really hard to realise the ambience of a space that was visualised at the initial stages. When that is achieved, the building shines in its natural self, which is what I love to capture; spaces as intended by architects, without any form of staging.

Beautifully put!

When was the first time you realised your passion for photography and when was the first time you started shooting?

Around the age of 16, my parents got me a phone with a basic VGA camera. What started out as me fidgeting with the camera ended up being much more meaningful today.

As a keen learner, I loved experimenting with the frames and gradually developed a curiosity to try and make seemingly everyday things look interesting. The teen years had me exploring the town fueled by my passion for architecture and photography, leading me to explore nooks and alleys of my native that I would not have otherwise.

With time the passion increased, and I looked forward to more possibilities of capturing the right frame with the right light. I believe that somewhere I knew this was my calling and that I might end up a patron of the passion for life.

Great work buddy! How do you go about getting work and what do you find is the best solution you've found?

I have been an amateur photographer for over ten years, a professional architectural photographer for over two years now. Being an architect, I have friends and colleagues from architecture school who are into practice. These people are in the stage of their careers where they are working on their own projects, and hence I got commissioned for architectural photography from word of mouth.

Social media is another platform that helps me get work and recognition, especially Instagram, which is why I will be focusing more on growing my venture on social media platforms in the coming years.

Well that is where I came across your work, the work at Moti Devti really reached out to me, especially the beautiful dusty sunset reminded me of time spent out in Asia. You really succeeded in capturing the essence of that project in its best light.

Where do you see the future of photography heading, not only in our genre but as a whole?

Oh! This is a tough one. I think photography and art, in general, is still significant. There is so much information out there that it becomes mentally straining and difficult to riddle through it. The super processed, refined and ‘perfect’ pictures make a lot of noise on the internet, whereas a simpler form of building, which showcases its true beauty, is more likely to go unnoticed at times.

I know of many people, designers and architects, who are creating amazing work but will move onto a new project without documenting the former.

Nonetheless, Fine art photography still holds value with people and it always will. I think with time, the technology will evolve so much that we will always need professionals to do the shoots. In our genre, I feel the next thing would be VR photos which can be seen by anyone in the world on specially made VR gadgets. If I am not wrong, a few firms are already doing it. That’d be really cool!!

I do like the idea of VR but this is more similar to moving image to me. Our brains want to be engaged the whole time with changing scenes, musical accompaniment and a fast pace editing. I quite like the idea that a single image can retains its sense of place, like the subject being photographed. It can be a retreat for reflection and relaxation. However, I’m perhaps rather naive and romantic when it comes to old and new technology.

Tell us about your process.

Patience! The most important thing about architecture photography is patience. I have learned that it is extremely important to keep introspecting. When I see my photos from a year back, I see the things that I could have done differently. With this growing consciousness, the process becomes much more fun and full of learning.

Today, when I do a professional shoot, I always start with analysing the space, including visiting the site with the architect, discussing and understanding the concept and their process. For me, as a photographer, it is important to be in the right frame of mind on the day of the shoot, to be able to understand the intangible aspects of the project as envisioned by the designers and capture the right frame at the right time.

I couldn’t agree more with the patience aspect, however it is difficult to convince certain clients that the shoot will take one or two days to get the best light and changes to the environment.

I think that is why I’m enjoying working more with my architectural clients recently. They give me the confidence that they trust my process and they also have a higher budget. I know that might sound a little crass, but sometimes 10 extremely well executed images speak volumes compared to 30 average ones. I’m only coming to learn this recently as in the past I always wanted to give value for money with my shoots so gave a lot of edited images. I now send contact sheets and let the client decide.

What is the interior and architectural scene like in Ahmedabad, is this where do you do most of your work?

The good thing about Ahmedabad, as a growing city, is that there is an insane number of talented designers that keeps increasing by the day; hence the scope and possibility to document projects are multifold. Until recent past, I was commissioned to shoot projects pan-India, and now with time, I have started getting projects in and around Ahmedabad as well.

Ahmedabad as a city holds architectural importance for it is home to pioneer architects and their projects that helped shape Modern Indian architecture. So personally, there’s a lot to explore and learn in and from the city. Sometimes, I just pick up the camera and head out to explore the streets and end up discovering interesting built structures or rediscovering the old ones that always have something new to explore.

It must be a very exciting place to be right now and exciting to see what is to come.

As a photography community we love a bit of gear talk, could you tell us what equipment you have in your bag and enlighten those who aren't familiar a little bit more about your process.

For architectural shoots, I use Nikon Z6 with Nikkor 24-70mm & Tamron 15-30mm. A majority of my photographs are handheld, but sometimes I also like to use a carbon fibre tripod. As part of my method, I do not use any artificial lighting, and rather I believe in capturing the built environment in its natural element.

On my regular street strolls, I use a basic Nikon D3100 with an 18-55mm lens to capture the impromptu essence of the streets.

Do you feel that you're happy with the work you produce?

Imposter syndrome strikes! Haha!! I think I am happy with the work I produce, but I am not content. I think this feeling is something that keeps me going. I always look back at my pictures and think of ways I could have done things differently and improve from there.

I hear that. I’m going through a little burn out I think with my work. I feel I need a little holiday to take a step back. I know that everyone is saying that the work I’m producing they love and really happy with, but I look at it and I’m not happy. It is like looking in the mirror and not enjoying the reflection.

I think a little mental break does us all good.

Do you have any advice for aspiring photographers to keep motivated and push yourself forward?

The best advice would be just to be patient. Look and learn; many platforms publish beautiful architecture projects, keep looking at them, keep analysing them, understand how it was framed, what went before taking this picture, how it is edited, what the photographer must have thought to take the picture at the position that they did.

I think we should talk a bit about copyright...How do you go about educating your clients about licensing and is there anything we can be doing better to inform our clients better?

Copyright shows a growing awareness about the seriousness of photography as a profession and architecture as a discourse. However, we still have a long way to go for it to be practised by all professionals. But, I do see it gaining importance in the times to come. From my experience, I think we, as artists, should responsibly educate each client about licensing. It's best to clear everything in the contract before starting the assignment.

Where do you draw your inspiration from and how do you go about creating your stylised look?

I feel inspiration comes from everywhere!

Work of other photographers, in movies, music, nature, anything and everything. The Internet has surely made the world a smaller place, making everything accessible, even inspiration. I follow a few people’s works on social media platforms, which helps me get inspired.

Apart from that, I make sure to take time to go out on the streets and try out new things with frames and compositions. I believe that indulging in personal projects is equally necessary for me to channel my creativity. It gives me the freedom to make mistakes because there I have no restrictions or deadlines. This helps in finding a new approach to a particular context, which helps me hone my skill set, reflecting the finesse in professional shoots.

While for my personal projects, I perceive the space the way I want to; on an assignment, I try to put my client’s perspective along with my understanding of the space. The balance of these two is what, I feel, creates a good photograph.

Do you have a favourite thing you like to shoot and why?

I don't really have a favourite, but it is important that I feel and capture the emotion in every frame. For me, it is about capturing the intangible digitally, for being able to translate that emotion into the photograph. All in all, I love capturing everything under the sun.

What would say the highlight of your career would be to this point?

In 2017, I was commissioned for a shoot that turned out to be good; the clients were happy, but somewhere, I was not confident enough to showcase it to get more clients.

After that, I did not take up any assignments for almost two years. During this time, I visited different places in and around the city, trying to experiment with frames and understand the spaces. Later in September’19, I did a shoot that I am still very proud of. It was that two years time that I invested in introspecting my work only to sharpen my skills and pick it up again. This was the highlight for me.

I think that when you know you’re ready, you’re ready. I had a similar experience on my first shoot. The client was not that happy with the results and I think I didn’t have the experience or confidence at the time to take control of the shoot like I do now. It really knocked me back a few years with my confidence…..but what doesn’t break you makes you stronger right?!?

Do you have any favourite photographers that inspire you and anyone you think we should be keeping an eye out for?

Oh well, there is a long list.

As a young photographer, Zacharie Rabehi, Auditya Venkatesh, Siddhartha Joshi and the legendary Raghu Rai were some of the first photographers to inspire me with their seminal work. In architectural photography, there are many like Ishita Sitwala, Monika Sathe, Aldo Amoretti, Simone Bossi, Fernando Guerra & others who have pushed me to explore and learn more in this field. From my contemporaries, I admire Karan Gajjar, Dhrupad Shukla and Abhishek Shah’s works.

Lastly, what have you learnt and taken away from the past years events?
Slow down and breathe(with my mask on). Appreciate what’s around me, keep looking up to the great people of the fraternity and keep getting inspired.

A huge thanks to Atik for taking time out of his busy schedule to share his work with us and have a little chat.

To see more of Atik’s work click on the following links - Website - Instagram