A photograph transcends its two-dimensional nature by encapsulating intimate emotions and memories. Capturing these intangible feelings takes an intuitive photographer who can interweave a story into frozen moments. One such masterful artist is Amrita Samant, a Bengaluru-based photographer particularly skilled in capturing children’s development, right from a parent’s pregnancy to the child’s growth. She is also the entrepreneur behind Mommy Shots and a skilled tutor of photography. Samant has worked with over 5000 children since the inception of her journey 10 years ago.
Photography found Samant in 2014 after much seeking, and it did not take long before romance blossomed between her and the camera. SheThePeople had the honour of picking her creative brain to get a glimpse of her art and journey.
Foraying Into photography
Amrita Samant worked in the corporate world for about seven years before photography happened. She has an undergraduate degree in computer science and a Master’s in human resources. However, since childhood, extracurricular activities piqued her interest more than academics.
Samant narrated, “I was living a dual life. I would go to work from 9:00 to 6:00 and then from 7:00 to 10:00, I would be pursuing some creative hobby of mine. I started doing a lot of research on what kind of creative careers I could pursue, which would sustain me and keep the artist in me happy. Finally, after nine different tries, I found photography.” And the rest is history.
The decision to switch her career came with a lot of mental stress. “When I was looking for different creative careers, I came across a whole bunch of them. I remember exploring wedding choreography and Zumba instructing but I disliked the fact that I had to make this about finances,” she said.
Samant continued, “The only way I dealt with the apprehension and fear was by discussing my fears openly with people I trusted. I call them my tribe because I relied on them for their belief in me. After all, sometimes you don't have that kind of faith in yourself, and you need to keep hearing it from someone else. Besides, there was a keen desperation inside me to do something creative for a very long time, and it just kept building up.”
Why Child, Family Photography?
While photographing children was not a new concept, Samant found that photographers in India who specialised in this field were few. “It was a matter of a brain wave that struck me to combine photography and children– two of my favourite things. Being an aunt to my sisters’ twins at home involved documenting their growth stages and it was a matter of a brain wave that struck me that I could introduce newborn and child photography to the market here and adapt it for the Indian audience,” she said.
Describing the challenge of capturing abstract emotions in a frame, Samant said, “Some photographs can make you stop and stare because that one image tells a huge story. Creating great images like that is a huge challenge and I love a good challenge. Having been in leadership and people-oriented roles in my life experiences, this trickled in rather easily for my profession as a photographer. With kids, this is a different ball game. There are no easy things about working with babies but when you finish a shoot, it’s the most beautiful feeling in the world because you’ve spent so much time in a positive aura with them.”
Challenges behind the lens
The difficulties of being a photographer often go unnoticed, especially when the pictures look so effortlessly evocative. Samant revealed, “The hardest thing about working with children is that they have a very small threshold. They have little energy because they are so tiny and you have to make sure you give the parents the best pictures with the little amount of time that a baby offers you. The toughest challenge is to get the baby to cooperate.”
To be on top of her game, Samant required a lot of patience and research on children. She described, “It is imperative that one likes children and has patience for them, without which, you won’t last in this profession. My first year as a child photographer was a mixed bag of experiences but I soon realised that I needed to learn a lot about babies and child psychology. That helped tremendously to be gentle, open, and easy with kids.”
Photography with a purpose
Why should maternity photography be restricted to subtlety, neutral colours, and floral fields? Amrita Samant has also done several shoots that beat the stereotypical notions of motherhood with themes that scream boldness and eccentricity. This way, she brings forth the personality of each parent through the frame.
Samant said, “My common vision is to exceed the expectations of everyone who works with me. The photographs I create are a result of all this and each person brings something different to the forefront. This allows me to go beyond my usual comfort zone to create images that are personal and unique to them.”
Apart from her personal projects, Samant has also worked with several organisations for brand campaigns or social causes. Some of these include awareness campaigns about breastmilk donation and congenital heart surgery in children among others.
The innocence of childhood and the relationship that parents share with them cannot be verbalised. However, Amrita Samant has managed to articulate them through her art. Her photographs are time capsules of life's milestones and fleeting special moments.
Samant expressed, "I believe that this is a beautiful way to express what you’re really thinking or visualising and that, by itself, is an inspiration. There is no end to what you can put on a canvas. The images serve as a visual testament to this transformative phase and become cherished memories for years to come. It has honestly been a blessing to be a part of so many families' milestones over a long period."
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