'Fashion Photography: Where Imagination Can be Portrayed'

Indian fashion industry is though blooming, but is at its infancy at the moment and has great potential to make a mark at the international podium. Fashion in India dates back thousands of years and is known for a rich and varied textile heritage where each region of India has its own native dress and traditional costumes.

Always having a bent towards fashion and aesthetics Richa Maheshwari wanted to make into a career where she could portray her imagination and enable the art to come out on the fore. Her photography career started along with 3rd year studies at NIFT and since then has been practicing it professionally. As a women entrepreneur and professional photographer, Richa highlighted some key points with regards to her entrepreneurship experience with SMEStreet.

The edited excerpts:

How is the Fashion Industry evolving in India?

Fashion Industry is growing at a rapid pace with international developments, such as the India Fashion Week gaining popularity and annual shows by fashion designers held in major cities of India. The most striking feature about the inflation in its popularity is its uniqueness; which makes it different from the west, the rich palette of colours and its very own style, The Indian Kitsch.

For a startup entrepreneur, what are the common challenges in this industry?

For a person/company at a nascent stage, it is a challenge to reach out and convince the market amidst the already existing old players; learning the norms of industry , the functioning of the industry, the where about, and knowing who’s-who etc is garnered with time. It is generally a one man show initially and where effort is required to multi task- marketing, administration, invention/creation, selling, and even clerical work.

Can you share your initial level Challenges in this field?

Having no Godfather in the industry, I had to do an extensive study of market and trends, and a lot of multitasking. The industry does not know you so it is difficult to bag projects easily even if you have the confidence to do it. There are lots of people in the market to fool you or exploit your talent by paying less money, because you are a beginner. Also at the beginner stage you don't have the kind of equipments or are short of investment in gadgets/machines which could make you achieve superior results. Therefore, the entire impetus and pressure was on my talent and confidence to create a spectacle.

What are the key opportunities existing in today's market?  

The fashion industry is no doubt about big names but it never fails to recognise young and creative talents who know how to present themselves differently. The lavish growth of e-commerce and creative advertisement and marketing has led to the growth of the photography business. Through photography they translate their ideas into story/picture and create a link with the client. The rise in cut throat marketing policies have led to the flourish of advertising industry which in turn has given a tremendous boost to commercial photography. On the other hand, for people engaged in event/marriage and occasion based photography, the opportunities are springing since people have grown conscious towards hiring professionals and are willing to spend.

What are the key priorities on which you are working on for next few months?

I am handling few eminent portfolios, wherein our focus is to uplift the brand not only through photography but also through branding and marketing. For the next few months we would be focusing on developing the projects and shaping their image in terms of branding.

There is a huge amount of competition in this vertical. How are you looking at this factor in order to grow and attract the potential customers?

Competition exists everywhere, in all the fields. I am not scared of it.  The more the challenge you receive, the greater the fun it is to work and prove yourself as the better one. I have carved a set plan for the upcoming period and exactly know my direction as to achieve my targets. As far as potential customers are concerned, I design my plans after studying the market and make in room for it and while working towards it we target the potential customers and thereby growth.