Murtaza Chass - You Just Need To See A Different Perspective Of The World (Photographer)

You might be the best at what you do, but it’s important to get a breakthrough and get yourself recognised by brands and other content creators for them to hire you for the work that you do.

1. Tell us about your background and journey.

I come from a family who has been in the interiors industry for more than 6 decades, based out of Hyderabad. I was born in Bangalore and raised in Hyderabad, studied Business Management in Pune and Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management in Manchester and then got back to Hyderabad in 2015. 

Since then, I’ve been taking care of my factory, started a Photo Booth service to fund my travels and equipment and been taking wildlife and photography enthusiasts to places in India and across the globe to teach and show them our beautiful planet.


2. How and when did you realize your passion for photography?

I started photography after coming back from a school trip to Munnar back in 2010. Immediately after, I invested in a basic DSLR and started clicking whatever came my way. 

Travel photography came to me much later, to be precise, in 2014, when I was in Manchester for my masters. I used to travel whenever I got the chance, and that’s how it all started. Offbeat destinations and a camera were all it took to follow a passion that was built over time. 

After every trip, I learnt something new and I was excited to try it on the next one and so it continued. And here I am today, trying to balance it out in the best of ways possible.


3. What are some tips you would like to share with amateur photographers?

A lot of people, specifically travel photographers, ask me how I make money while travelling and the answer to that is quite complex. It’s a process that takes time. Nobody can immediately start an income flow by just travelling. It keeps growing with skill and recognition. 

You might be the best at what you do, but it’s important to get a breakthrough and get yourself recognised by brands and other content creators for them to hire you for the work that you do. Someone has rightly said, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. 

Make sure you invest in skill and invest in an alternate source of income too. Keep following in your passion but also know that it is important to sustain. For photographers, your art, your visual content, your story is your window of opportunity, so make sure you make it worth it. 

Get inspired and make sure to focus on your niche and keep doing it until you’re the best at what you do.


4. What are the important skills one should have to be a successful photographer?

In my opinion, everyone who showcases their art in one way or another is successful. No art/photographs/films are bad. They’re all just perspectives of different individuals that have different opinions. Strive for excellence in your field of photography and believe in it even if nobody else does. 

You don’t need to have a million followers for your content to be great, you just need an eye to see a different perspective of the world that nobody else can see. If you really want to be a great photographer/filmmaker, start with the basics and move upward. 

Create a vision, watch videos for references, learn about your equipment and apply it in post-processing. That’s my mantra!


5. What are various opportunities available for aspiring photographers?

Tonnes! Digital content is on the rise. Pick your niche, be it food, travel, fashion, interior, sports or as a matter of fact, anything and everything has a demand in today’s digital world. 

Learn the skill well, choose a platform to showcase it and identify ways to grab opportunities, however small. All great things start with something small.


6. Which is your favourite book and why?

Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon. It’s simple yet profound and gives an all-new perspective to creativity and how art is made.


- Murtaza Chass (Photographer)

Murtaza Chass is a Hyderabad based Photographer, Film-Maker and an Entrepreneur who has carved his niche in travel and wildlife photography and whose works have been featured in CondeNast Traveller, Better Photography, You and I and other reputed magazines across the country. 

He runs a family managed business that deals in manufacturing of Luxury Modular Kitchens and Wardrobes (Tas Group of Companies), a PhotoBooth (LumeInc Photobooth) service and is also the head travel photographer for one of India’s top travel and adventure tourism companies called Journeys Explore.

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Interviewed By Tuhina Rana