Her childhood hobby is now her passion! Rachna Shukla, city-based photographer started clicking pictures at a very young age. But it was just 10 years ago that she took up photography seriously. “I realised that I was taking beautiful subjects, but wasn’t contributing much to a picture as a photographer,” says Rachna, the official photographer for Jagriti Theatre.

But the art of photography didn’t come easy to her. “I worked as a software professional in Oracle in Portland. So, it was during my 10-year stay in the US that I got a chance to enroll at the Pacific North West College of Arts at Portland. During the three years of photography classes I learnt about advanced dark room technique and took classes on artistic composition,” says the photographer.

It is her upcoming photography exhibition at Chitrakala Parishath that she is excited about. “I am showcasing my pictures of villages from Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Coorg, Ooty and many other states. It is a collection of over four years,” says the photographer. Rachna has tried to capture the slow-paced, clutter free and subtle lifestyle of rural India in her pictures. “I think such rural settings have a calming and relaxing affect on people. This allures me to capture it through my lens,” says Rachna who is a native of Gwalior.

“I love Bengaluru. It was in 2002 when my husband had to move here for a job that I was introduced to the city. After that we kept coming back and finally two years ago we shifted permanently,” says Rachna, who had a very interesting start with Jagriti Theatre. “They needed volunteers and I was interested to meet new people. So, I started as a ticket collector during the initial days,” says Rachna. Ask her what next and she says, “I am planning to showcase the heritage of Gwalior through my photographs.”