Experimental photographer Sudharshan Balaji on wanting to wow the film industry with his radical concepts
Sudharshan Balaji
He’s only in his early 20s, but the talented Sudharshan Balaji already has a loft ideal — to rework the entire conceptualisation of movie posters in south India. Having dabbled in everything from fashion and film to underwater and digital art, he plans to revolutionise Tamil cinema promos with surrealism. With his latest series of pictures winning him rave reviews from the film fraternity and those outside it; it’s easy to see why he could well become a prominent name in the industry in the years to come.
Using vintage ideas that express abstract yet relatable emotions, Sudharshan’s latest project is quite mind-bending, and he acknowledges it. “Each picture is built on a vivid emotion. For instance, one is about a girl who loves the world of movies so much and covers her surroundings with posters of them — so much so that her life becomes a surreal movie in itself. Another titled Get Drunk In Love is about romantic idealism, while Selfie is about internal conflicts in the minds and The Animal is about everyone’s alter-ego. Implementing some of these ideas using actors in our industry to preview the theme of a movie, would be fantastic! To tell complex stories with just images; that’s my goal,” says Sudharshan.
Picking up photography as a hobby during college, the DSLR quickly became his best friend. Before long, it became his passion and profession too — but the youngster knew that he needed to stand out from the crowd. “I am completely self-taught; from the concepts to editing. Inspirations come from magazines and websites. But I knew I had to be different — that’s when I discovered underwater fashion photography and learnt it,” he adds.
His recent mid-year calendar for 2015-16 launched by actor Suriya was a feather in his cap, along with several other impressive achievements, such as winning the Behance International Portfolio Reviews’ Award three years in a row! However, as with any creative mind, the youngster finds working in the same genre monotonous and wants to push the envelope. “I’m not afraid to take risks; in fact, I recently finished working on a controversial semi-nude/bikini experimental series. It’s not about money for me — but I want the idea and the model to be recognised in the right frame of mind. And considering how anything even slightly contentious gets removed from social media these days, I’m waiting for the right platform and time to release the images.” Sudharshan signs off, quipping, “Fashion, film and surrealism — all these three entrance me, and I hope I can make a mark in all the fields with my creativity.”
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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