Bizemag :
Have you always been entrepreneur? When and how did the idea coined to set up your own business?
Priya Chhabra
Yes, as a matter of fact I have been an entrepreneur, from the onset of my career. I started my career in the Ed Tech space. Quite different really from my journey now. This is my second innings at work and super thrilled that I got an opportunity to explore my creative side this time round as a photographer. Much to my delight, being as creative as I could possibly be, I still manage to use all the experience I have garnered in my many years as an entrepreneur into my photography brand as well.
To tell you more about me today, I am and represent “Priya Chhabra Photography”. I specialize in life inspired portrait photography, creating timeless portraits and doing photoshoots in the genre of family, babies, children, and maternity photography
Bizemag
Good to know! Would you please tell readers about your formal education and early career before you join photography?
Priya Chhabra
I graduated in Fine Arts from The Stella Maris College, Chennai and then went on to doing my post-graduation in business administration. This is what took me on my entrepreneurial journey way back in 2000 when I shifted base to New Delhi. I discovered my real calling as a Photographer after I became a mother for the second time with my little son. Post my break after his birth is when I decided to go into photography professionally full time. I went back to educating myself, upskilling my talents in this genre of newborn, maternity and family photography. During this period, I trained under internationally renowned photographers in the space of newborn, baby and maternity photography and mastered the art.
Bizemag
What are the professional challenges? And how did you overcome these challenges when you started?
Priya Chhabra
Speaking of challenges, I wouldn’t say that there were many as I love my work and when that’s the case you enjoy every aspect of it. Having said that, this genre of photography when I started way back was relatively new in the country. People had not heard of maternity photography, and it was unlike now when it’s a more common thing. Today I photograph newborns as young as 10 days which was unheard of when I had begun. It was more about bringing a transformation in mindsets. As i progressed, the only small hurdle i faced was to put forward my belief that “less is always more” As a portrait photographer, I am creating art for you, and you don’t need to have 100 images to tell a story, beautifully created 15 or 20 portraits can really tell your story so very well!!
Bizemag
Priya, I would say that your education in Fine Arts was playing a role into your new career, and you were trying to mold the traditional photography into a storytelling to the people.
Priya Chhabra
Absolutely, when I started my first innings, as I had mentioned to you was my startup in the educational space. I had a company where I was into marketing and PR. This was my second innings and I was sure that this time around, I wanted it to be something that was very close to my heart, something that was connected to my roots, which was creativity. Most definitely my background in Fine Arts gave me a cutting edge with my understanding of compositions, color and lighting. This is what makes my images come to life! Being a peoples person, I could connect one on one with each of my clients which made it so very easy to capture emotions in their stories of love in the most natural and comfortable way.
Bizemag
What is your unique style of photography? How would you explain that?
Priya Chhabra
When it comes to my style of photography, It’s more natural and timeless. I like to create portraits which, when you see 20 years down the line, make you smile and go “Wow”. And of course, because I’m dealing with babies, it’s all got to be fun too. My photoshoots with toddlers are almost like a party with everyone including parents and me dancing to the baby’s most favorite rhymes and sometimes bollywood hits too!! Yes most definitely, these are the three words that would describe my style of photography – timeless, natural, and fun!
Bizemag
As you said, you’re working with babies, how tough is it?
Priya Chhabra
Photographing babies is a complete pleasure. The biggest measure of this is when you see the smiles on the faces of the proud parents. When they see their images and the reactions I get, I think are the biggest rewards.
To photograph babies, I would say, the one thing you need to have in abundance is patience! The baby is the boss literally on our sets! So, if they want to take their own time to give you a shot, they will, you must be prepared for that. And in that sense, yes, patience is a big necessity. I always tell my parents, getting a family photoshoot done is an experience, the whole process is about creating memories right from the day of the shoot till the end result of those pretty smiling faces in the images. You will cherish every moment of it, that’s a promise!
Bizemag
What are the distinct solutions that you offer to clients over the other competitors in the market?
Priya Chhabra
Speaking of competition, I believe that art has no limit and we set our own goals. It is very, very important that I like to create art out of every image that I take. That’s one thing I love doing, I like to add an artistic touch to every image that i take. The other thing, which is feedback I get from a lot of my parents, is that my work is quite unique and minimalistic, where I try and keep the focus more on the baby. With my maternity portraits the aim is to capture the true emotions that parents – to – be are experiencing and ensure the expecting mamma feels beautiful inside out.
Bizemag
Your target audience is parents basically if I understand
Priya Chhabra
Yes, they are my target audience – families, parents, new parents and going to be parents.
Having said that we also get approached by youngsters who are looking to get some artistically clicked portraits of themselves. Corporate professionals looking for professionally shot portraits.
Bizemag
How do you define success? Who do you credit your success most to?
Priya Chhabra
To put it as simple as I can put it, when people want to work with you, that just shows that you’re successful, and you’re good at what you do. To me, that is what defines your success. Credit goes to your patience and the hard work you put in, because that’s what measures it. Last but not the least, of course, credit goes to my beautiful, beautiful babies and the mamas who I photograph for looking as cute and gorgeous as they do!!
Bizemag
Please share about your achievements and awards. Ah,
Priya Chhabra
I’m happy to say that I am recognized as one of the leading photographers in the maternity and baby photography industry. Humbled to be mentioned among the top three or the top five photographers in Delhi NCR, by renowned houses like Times group and some well-known parenting publications. I’ve received recognition for the “top artists for the year” award, “the top 100 Women Icon “ to name a few. Honestly, the biggest reward is having the ability to play a small part in the most precious and joyous moments of someone’s life and in a manner such that you’ll be remembered for a long time to come!
Bizemag
What would be your inspiring message for aspiring women entrepreneurs or woman photographers?
Priya Chhabra
I’ve always lived with and believed that, “you either win, or you learn…You never loose!! My message to them would be that simply stay at it, you must keep doing what you’re doing. Just keep believing in yourself. Everything will fall into place sooner than later! “ You become what you believe”!!
HOW TO CONTACT PRIYA
https://m.facebook.com/priyachhabraphotography