Issue 7

7

START magazine

START magazine Issue 7 All images belong to the respective artists Cover art by Nitin Garg Š Respect Copyrights

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DEAR READERS, As I started working on Issue 7 after a month long break, I realized how truly I had missed creating START. This issue features five young artists – some who have held on to their passion for years, and some who have just discovered a new way to get their right brain buzzing.

Just when we all thought that the world had moved on to living the digital way, Zeeshan embraces film photography – and how! He leads us into dark and mysterious spaces of the city, each narrating its own silent tale. Nitin’s “design something everyday” project taught me that it is important to keep our creative pursuits alive each day. A person’s imagination is at it’s peak during his/her student life. Being students, we come up with many ideas to keep us entertained and I believe that it is the right time to start pursuing a creative hobby. Dhruv started off with photography as a college student. He weaves beautiful stories from words through his images. Aman – 16 years of age, has just stepped into the world of visual expressions and started experimenting with different styles. “Massif by ME” is a collection of customized shoes by Madhuri. If you’re wondering how hand painted ballerina shoes for girls would look like, well, turn the page and see for yourself.

Don’t forget to get in touch with us and leave feedback and comments.

I hope you enjoy flipping through the next 47 pages.

Priya Prakash editor@startmagazine.in

Zeeshan Chowdhury 26 / Bangalore / Digital communications guy

Of sneakers and ladders...

Photography happened at a time when I was totally broken and depressed. Career plans crashed, dreams shattered and all that jazz. Then I started clicking pictures and it kind of stuck.

I continued shooting till I realised I had developed a liking towards photography. By that time two years had passed. So I have been shooting for over two years now.

An empty corridor in Church Street I can't point out to a single source of inspiration. Experiences, relationships, people in my immediate surroundings have been inspirational at different stages of life. When it comes to photography it is the works of the greats that have infuenced me.

A Man waiting for the noon show at a theatre I'll just say that I am not committed to digital or analogue. Analogue is the latest crush though and I have been flirting with analogue for quite sometime now. Analogue plays hard to get and thus is more alluring :-) On a more serious note, both mediums have their advantages and one must utilize both.

A tailor working late into the night at Avenue Road

Twinkle Gaze I prefer BW over color anyday. I find the BW medium simpler and more effective. It is not about giving a vintage look to photographs ;) Color is tough but I am trying.

Kohinoor Hotel, Brigade Road

Avenue road

The Balloon Girl.

Shot this after this girl sold a balloon to a woman. Once I shot this I saw the woman cross the road and give that balloon to her daughter who must have been the same age as this little girl.

Urban Reflections

Future looks dark. The darkroom is calling. The plan is to continue taking pictures, learning traditional practices like printing and may be take up a project. Fingers crossed.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zeeography/

Nitin Garg 23 / Born in a small town called Bharatpur in Rajasthan. At the moment staying and working as an independent consultant in Delhi.

I

remember when I was 13 years old, my dad got his job posting to a small place in

Rajasthan which has a beautiful natural heritage and a wildlife reserve park. At that time, I joined a small community there who used to arrange forest visits to learn about nature, volunteer for activities and so on. That was the time I actually started sketching landscapes, playing with watercolors and finding a whole new medium of expression.

After few years when I got my first computer I taught myself how to write HTML and some basic JavaScript rollovers, allowing me to create websites for the late early 2000s era with various 3D effects and glowing things. First created a small offline website on tiger reserve with all the information, pictures, news clippings I had collected over the years. Funny at that time I had never ever even been on internet & had any idea about it. But the whole process of organizing, presenting the information I loved fascinated me. Later after school I was fortunate to realize that I can actually live my life by doing something I enjoy and joined a design school in Pune to kick-off.

Notebook design for American Express India. The requirement was to promote innovation and lateral thinking to internal teams as a part of everyday routine.

Poster artwork for American Express India.

Earth day special bottle graphics for CA based green brand, Klean Kanteen.

Inspiration usually drops in from something you never look at. For me it’s the little things in everyday routine, nature, empty urban spaces, few people in my personal life I know or I once knew and Music. Music is a big part of my workflow, helps keeps me focused and set in one direction while working on something. Other than that conversations, idea sharing and some inspiration comes from friends & other great people in design community. Also keep my eye on few various blogs time to time. Though from last few years I honestly try not to look for too much of inspiration online. Sometimes the thought of comparisons, trends, styles kills your own idea and restricts your execution instead of inspiring it. So for Art and illustration I seek inspiration life and experiences and for interaction design part of me I do follow a number of personal blogs and magazines of great people in this domain.

Design Something Everyday: Singles, cover arts.

This is my Daily Design Activity, where I dedicate 30-40 mins & try to draw, click, create, compose something everyday. Usually, I am inspired my Music & experimenting with various visual styles.

Mr.Meeble Tour Posters for a electronic-rock ground from France called Mr.meeble

Few snapshots from Interface and identity works.

I see my future floating between design, technology and sound. In what exact form I don’t know but somewhere in between. At the baseline I just want to keep exploring these mediums and hope that someone will sponsor those efforts and ideas in that time. For next few years I want to keep working independently and later, when I have enough roots, experience and some backup money, I want to build up a great Digital media focused team doing something which not many firms, studios do in this country yet- aim to fuse design and technology in more towards expression and art. One of the idea is the interactive audio-visual spaces, who will pay for it, I don’t know. But I know that if I do good, someone will pay. So yes, if anyone reading this think he or she find their idea of future somewhere floating in it too, you’re most welcome to share some thoughts and collaborate!

Until I grasp the second Illustration series mainly inspired by some personal experiences at that moment. It was an blend between experimental photography and illustration.

It's too hard to be unique these days : ) With so much of remixed content, forced trends & consumer/user requirements sometimes you have to embrace few simple things and conventions that exist. Now later it depends how you mould them to bring the unique interest. In my works, whether it be interface design, illustration or any graphic assignmentI try to find a place for digital - new age and organic emotion, both. It’s always interesting to balance and make them merge together.

A couple of thoughts from personal experience so far. First, It’s good to be focused and knowing what you want to do, but never get yourself restricted one particular medium, stream of design. At least in early days when you are a studying or practicing at own. After that you anyway have to be under client pressure and do one particular thing that market accepts. Second, be very serious about work culture and discipline. Be honest! When you do good work, demand for the reward you deserve, when you do a mistake, accept the criticism and learn from it.

http://www.nitingarg.com/

Dhruv Vishrani 25 / Bombay / I am currently listening to music. While listening to music, I work at a management consulting firm, click photos, draw cartoons, and try figuring out what I'm doing. Really.

Cluster One Chaos. Within, without.

In 2004, I joined BITS Pilani, where they make engineers. In order to become a good engineer, I joined the department of photography, where I ended up learning how to use a film camera, figured out what a light meter is, and got a sore neck trying to conquer the split ring.

And then, one year after holding a real camera in my hand for the first time, I flicked my dad's Nikon Coolpix S4100 (basic 3x zoom digital camera which is so out of fashion today), and fiddled around with it, trying to figure out if I could do more than click grinning students grinning into the camera. And I realized I couldn't. But I kept clicking photos nonetheless and terrorizing the world by uploading them on Flickr. So, I guess, sometime in the last 50-100 words was when I got into photography. I don't think I've gotten out yet.

People Are Strange. From the Great Psychedelic Uddu wedding in Calcutta.

Between Mind & Heart. Where does one find peace?

What inspires me? As Master Oogway would say it, "I don't know."

But if I were to give the boring answer, two things really make me click: One is the amazing work I see on Flickr. I've been there for a few years now, and the kind of art I've seen created, from the simplest of ideas to elaborate set ups, keeps spurring me to test the limits. And secondly, I know that I do not the camera yet. I don't know what it's capable of, what it's limits are, and I frankly don't know how to use a camera yet. Discovering what it's capable of doing is what motivates me to. And er, thirdly, music. Have you ever tried picking a song, and clicking a photo to match the song name? I haven't. Let me know what it feels like.

Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of. After a lapse of ten or more years, I amble onto Juhu beach. I keep walking as my mind tries to register the sight. I walk into the middle of a wave of humanity, and as it sinks in, I stop.

And stare. And take in everything I see.

Life Of Illusion.

This is the merry-go-round at a mela (fair) in Lucknow, where I saw the Maut Ka Kuan (well of death). 4 bikes, 3 cars, one pit. The announcer outside the setup screeches "Chal gaya toh circus, ruk gaya toh maut". Sigh. Life.

‘Post Psychedelic Withdrawal’ because this photograph taught me the power of spot metering, which was one of my most joyous discoveries when using the camera, even though I don't use it much anymore. And because I love dark photos.

Also, This. Because, cold as I might sound, this was clicked in a pretty fragile emotional state. And I was surprised at the art a disturbed/ distraught mind or heart can create.

Which does not mean this is 'art'. I was just surprised.

At the monastery at Shey Palace, Ladakh. I hope it still exists.

10 years from now, I’d be eating at the restaurant at the end of the universe. And if you meant that in a 'what are you going to do with your life' kind of way, then, again, I, frankly, have absolutely no clue. And if you made it past all those commas unscathed, in 2022, I'd like to probably be traipsing across random parts of the world, discovering new places, finding new people, and still hunting for my 'best' click. But these, of course, are pipe dreams till I manage to get my hands on a fortune somehow. If you have any ideas, please drop me a line.

One important quality that every artist should have? I'd say, a sense of humour. And if that's too hard to find, a bad sense of humour will do.

Long As I Can See The Light Meet my first acquaintance on the trip. I didn't ask him his name. He used to sell cigarettes and beedis in Shahjahanpur.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dum/

Aman Deshmukh 16 / Bombay / Currently in 12’th grade

I find inspiration in almost everything. Even the most mundane scenarios, locations and places can provoke me to take a photo. I find them to be more of a challenge than anything else.

I remember that my first camera was a plastic film camera that had only an autofocus feature. I was twelve years old then. My dad was posted in a village, so I used to go there to take photographs. That was what got me interested. Now, the city lights have replaced the village scenes.

This particular Lunar Eclipse was rare since it was the longest and darkest one of the century. It would suddenly start to rain, so I had to stand on the terrace with the camera and umbrella from around 11:30 pm to 1:45 am.

Shots of the Lunar Eclipse I took from my terrace.

My mother assisted me throughout - holding the umbrella for me whenever I needed it.

This collage wouldn't have been possible without her help. This collage is also special since this was the first time that I actually captured a natural spectacle in action.

I have a vague dream of going around the world with my camera to take photographs and capture moments. I feel that the World is one big photo.

And I want to capture it. http://www.amandeshmukhphotography.com/

Madhuri Mamgain 21 / Delhi NCR / Has pursued Footwear Designing at Footwear Design and Development Institute

Frosty

Societa After completing from FDDI in April '11, I decided to follow my passion and make fashion footwear a full time career and launched my first collection named Massif by ME. Art inspires me to create and fashion is the canvas I create upon.

Ballerinas are a unanimous choice of most girls' wardrobe and if it is mixed with art of their choice, the concept seems irresistible!

Intution

Vanity

I was fortunate to be exposed to an array of artistic people throughout my childhood, most notably my parents. The exposure to my father’s passion for art, and my mother who always wanted me to be a Creative Director influenced me.

Royale

Massif by ME Available @ a.s.o.t 29 A, first floor, Hauz khas Village, New Delhi Timings : 11:00 am – 7:30 pm (7 days) Ring : +91 – 9999662102 www.facebook.com/byMadhuriMamgain massifbyme@gmail.com

Together

Don't wait for your dreams to come true.

Make them happen.

ABOUT THE COVER ART ‘Friend from the Future‘ “Retro by heart & still exploring the world.

Fue – A rockstar of his times. The smart one.

In his early days, he got featured by a famous record label& according to the terms he had to go to mars for the biggest concert that ever happened.

Never came back.” – Nitin Garg