Revolutionizing the Art of Photography
Photography is an assignment I’ll never forget!
Oscar Shrestha is a prolific Nepali portrait photographer among many others, best known for his engaging captures and short videos on motion. Starting out in photography was a wonderful time filled with creativity and discovery for him. He who went on to create a distinctive world of beautiful and majestic captures is a photographer full of the world. Photographing the familiar and unfamiliar he takes on the journey with clicking of the camera and snapping of the flashlight.
Unfortunately, for Oscar Shrestha, his introduction to photography was a time of wrecked nerves, confusing advice from friends, and frustration as he learned a new camera and tried to capture what he saw with his naked eyes. “Challenges often came in different disguises,” Says the photographer. For him, instead of a big black cloud hovering above him, challenges came in smaller forms. But often he’d find himself overestimating his problems. Most of them were about missing fleeting opportunities, keeping up with the ever-changing and ever-forming trends, and many more but only for later to realize. He often told himself they weren’t going to be any better if he just planted them in his head. But one can only wish for his problems to go away. In fact, they come stronger than ever. He persisted on only because of the love and passion he had for photography. The essential elements of the image are usually established immediately at the time of exposure. This characteristic is unique to photography and sets it apart from other ways of picture making. The seemingly automatic recording of an image by photography has given him a nudge on the elbow to shake him up from his doubted moments. In truth, however, the most control he has over his photography is the creative vision. Oftentimes it can be seen in his photographs speaking the term, “All I am is a piece of who you’ve been.”
Rest assured, his past struggles did not have to be traumatic experiences. If there’s anything that kept Oscar Shrestha taking on the challenges, BELIEF and FAITH was always inked in his blood. “The fact that I trust my guts to guide me through the troubles has been working wonders for me!” Says the Photographer with a big smile plastered on his face. Chanting this, ‘Today wasn’t a great day. But I survived it to capture this as a proof that every feeling passes, returns, and passes with time,’ he reassures his fluttering doubts of the career he is pursuing. “I have been in such predicaments before, panicking would obviously not help, so a cool mind, my beliefs and my manifestations were my key to getting through every challenge, it still is, it always will be.” There’s no such path that comes without challenges. The path worth taking is when you bruise your body with determination and perseverance. The famous saying, ‘Just do it’ is his motto.
“When I take a deep breath and take the first ever step, there’s a sudden rise in me that makes me take the next step, and one by one I’m up and moving. We are often afraid of challenges, and worrying about losing or messing up, and yes we can mess things up, but the takeaway from the results are even more valuable than the opportunity itself. So, we either Win or Learn, never Lose! That keeps my head held high in every step I take in life.”
