Every morning when Shiva Chiluveru gets ready to go out, he takes a minute to choose the camera he wants to carry along. He has a choice between DSLR Canon 50 D, D 7000 Nikon and his iPhone 4 to capture moments and narrate a story. The collection of photographs he has clicked with his iPhone is at Aalankritha Art Gallery beginning from today. At his studio at Madhuranagar, Shiva, joined by his toddler son, discusses about iPhoneography. “iPhoneography is my collection of photographs taken during the last two years with my iPhone. I was inspired by Steve Jobs’ vision for photography,” he says.
A graduate of JNTU in Fine Arts, Shiva pursued his masters in New York. While in India, he co-founded two companies while managing his two roles of being an entrepreneur and a photographer. “It was not long before I decided to take up photography full time,” he says. With a camera bag slung over his shoulder, Shiva travelled far and wide looking for his ‘subjects’. He has held his exhibitions before and this is the first exhibition of photographs taken with an iPhone. “I was intrigued by the camera quality of an iPhone. When I got my own in 2013, I checked the resolution and began working with it,” he states.
Considering the advanced features in an iPhone which helps in enhancing the image, can iPhonegraphy be considered a serious photography? “A camera has evolved over the years. Once clicking a sunset or flower was considered beautiful and now they are clichéd shots. Technical advances have definitely changed the way we click but iPhoneography is not some random shots taken from a phone. One needs to have proper understanding and create a substantial body of work,” he replies and adds, “Having colours and a canvas doesn’t make an artist. In the same way, one cannot be called a photographer because of an instrument.”
One encounters some challenges while shooting with an iPhone, reveals Shiva. “One cannot change the focal length and perspective and one cannot shoot a moving object too.” With 30 photographs on display at the gallery, the exhibition weaves a story through its frames. With pictures taken around Charminar, Ameerpet, Secunderabad and Keesaragutta, there are a few images from Fort Kochi too. Showing us an image of an electric pole with tangled wires hanging down it, he says, “It looks all chaotic but these wires connect people,” he says with a smile.
Shiva is currently working on two projects ‘A view from the outside’ focusing on the changing cityscape of Hyderabad and ‘A hero with 1000 faces.’ He hopes to build a community of mobile photographers and do exhibitions and short film festival of films shot on iPhone.
Before concluding Shiva talks about the impact Steve Jobs had in his life. “He said, ‘Death is certain and in the time frame one lives on the earth, one has to decide what one wants to do in life.’
The exhibition ends on April 25.
