‘It’s much easier to access celebrities now’: Rahul Jhangiani on finding his niche in photography

If you are following the top celebrities of B-town on Instagram, you have most likely come across the work of Rahul Jhangiani. The man behind the lens of megastars — from Virat Kohli to his recent shoot of the Jonas Brothers at Lollapalooza 2024 — Jhangiani has a story to tell behind each photograph. Capturing moods and emotions is his USP, and what sets him apart from other fashion and celebrity photographers is his “energy, passion, and creativity”, he believes.

In a freewheeling conversation with indianexpress.com, the renowned photographer delves into the ever-evolving world of celebrity photography, his memorable BTS moments, favourite stars to capture, how travel translates into his photography and more.

Q: Can you tell us about your transition from studying science to pursuing a career in photography? How did you develop your signature style?

Jhangiani: Photography was completely unplanned and was by accident. So, my neighbour was Subi Samuel — a well-known photographer. During my college days, I used to basically map data and hang out at his studio. One fine day, I just realised that this is what I love doing. I have not looked back since then.

I did my masters in the UK in photography. The whole course in masters was not really about learning new techniques, but it was more about discovering your own style. It was more about studying other photographers, figuring out things that really inspire you, and developing your signature style. And I tried all sorts of photography, and I found that shooting people is something that I really enjoy. And shooting glamorous people is something that I enjoy the most. So, when I got back to India, I started working with smaller actors, and I kept building on.

 

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Q: Which celebrity did you enjoy shooting the most?

Jhangiani: It’s strange but my first big break was an ad shoot with Alia Bhatt. It was the first time I shot an A-lister. I really enjoyed shooting her, and till date, she is one of my favourite people to shoot with. She just always stands out by bringing something new to the table every single time that I work with her. Alia is super professional, her vibes are amazing, her energy is great, but beyond that, there is just always something new to learn from her when she is on set.

Q: How do you establish a rapport with your subjects?

Jhangiani: The whole idea of a celebrity wanting to work with you is that they want to look the best version of themselves. So, I try to study the subject a lot before I go on set. Just basic things like what are their profiles, what are their angles, what light is going to work on them, why it is going to work on them — discovering how I can just make them look the best. And when you are on set, it is all about how you connect with the person, how you make them feel comfortable.

I think it is everything put together — from your technical knowledge to your personality to make sure that they are comfortable on set with you. It all goes hand in hand.

 

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Q: How do you think social media has impacted celebrity photography?

Jhangiani: It has just become so much easier to access a celebrity now. When I started, Instagram was just starting. I would have to knock on people’s doors, send emails, and go to people’s offices with my portfolio. Now, everybody stalks everybody on social media. So, if your work is good, your work is going to stand out. And whatever you say, even though celebrities have millions of followers, they are still on Instagram looking at what other people are doing. So, it’s a lot easier now for you to get access to celebrities.

But it also got a lot more competitive because it’s easier now to put your work out there. However, I feel like if your work is good, then it’s easier to be noticed now.

Q: What is your advice to aspiring photographers looking to break into the world of celebrity photography?

Jhangiani: The most important thing as a photographer is to just keep shooting. You have to be obsessed and passionate about what you do. Although we work in the glam world and it is all very attractive, it is all about your art and craft. So, you have to be a really passionate photographer. You have to work on your art. There is a lot that goes into it.

Photography is a very easy thing to do now. Cameras have become easier, but technology is increasing. Every second person can photograph, and it takes one hour to learn how to use a professional camera now. So, I think it is a lot more beyond that. It is about discovering your style and standing out from the rest. It is about your research. It is about what inspires you. It is more about how to make your work stand out. And I feel that is only going to happen when you are passionate, and you work hard towards it.

 

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Q: You work with a whole entourage of experts — stylists to makeup artists. How do you approach this collaboration to bring your vision to life?

Jhangiani: When I started, I did not have celebrities working with me. It is a process. It is about building your portfolio. It is about collaborating with like-minded people, with artists who are also growing and starting like you.

I started by contacting modelling agencies. That is when Instagram started. It was a lot easier to just DM somebody and say, “Hey, you know, I love your work. Can we do this shoot together?”

I would build mood boards myself and send them to people. And I think 1 out of 10 people that you send it to, one person is definitely going to reply and want to work with you. So, in the first couple of years, we just spent creating work that was non-commercial. It did not make any money. In fact, we invested money into creating this work, collaborating with models, hair and makeup artists, designers, and stylists. I contacted designers and said, “Do you want some of your clothes featured? Can I just shoot them for free?”

These are the pictures that got an eye, and that is how it keeps building. So, I feel it also has a lot to do with your social skills. You have to interact with people on a daily basis and work with teams.

It is also the energy that you bring on set — people need to be happy because you are working with so many different teams every single day. It all just needs to work well together.

Q: What kind of challenges or obstacles have you encountered?

Jhangiani: I think the biggest challenge was to get that first actor to shoot with. Celebrities are now a lot more open to working with younger photographers and experimenting with new people. But when I started, which was six, seven years ago, it was a lot more restricted.

There were just senior photographers that everybody was working with. They were just so comfortable that they did not want to experiment with anybody. So, I think it was just trying to make sure that you deliver the best work possible and put it out there on social media or digital platforms for somebody to notice it, for somebody to talk about it and then for you to get that one chance. So, that took quite a lot of time. But I think that eventually, I got that chance, and I could prove it when I got that chance, which just got me more and more work.

 

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Q: What do you think sets you apart from your contemporaries or other photographers doing similar work?

There are just so many things that you put together. It is obviously your photography skills. I try to keep my style different from what people are doing. Also, I think the most important thing is people get bored really quickly. If you keep doing the same thing on every shoot, they are not going to want to work with you again. So, it is also just trying to be inspired.

I travel a lot. I do a lot of other things in my daily life which try to keep me inspired. I study other photographers who really inspire me. I think it is also about trying, experimenting, doing new things and producing new work that keeps you excited and also keeps your subject excited. I think that is really important, just to not be comfortable in what you are doing. At times, you think that this is it and you are producing the best work. But that is not how it works.

Q: What are the upcoming projects or collaborations that your fans can look forward to?

Jhangiani: The Indian Premier League (IPL) is going to start soon. So, we have a lot of shoots lined up with cricketers right now. We have shoots with Virat, Hardik (Pandya), KL (Rahul), (Jasprit) Bumrah and Rohit (Sharma). I think from Feb-end to March-mid is packed with just cricketers. But besides that, we have a lot of other shoots with actors as well. We are shooting with Varun (Dhawan) the day after. We have something with Alia the day after that. So, yeah, it is a mix of everything.

 

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Q: Your schedule seems packed. So, how do you maintain your work-life balance?

Jhangiani: The freedom that we have as a freelancer is that we can take off whenever we want to. I love to work. I can’t sit at home. So, I make sure that I am working every single day. But when I feel like I am saturated, I take a couple of days off. And I probably travel just to refresh my mind, my creativity. To just be inspired and to come back again. But that is the freedom that I have. That is a big advantage of working as a freelancer.

Q: Can you recall any memorable behind-the-scenes anecdotes?

Jhangiani: We were shooting with Sara Ali Khan in Goa. And we were shooting at Vagator Beach, which is a really crowded beach. And for some reason, she agreed to shoot there. She is really bindaas. So, she does whatever you tell her to do. There was one shot where she had to go and climb on this one rock and pose on that. And the moment she went on the rock, the tide basically came. There was a sudden high tide. So, she was kind of stuck on the rock. And hundreds of people had gathered who were just staring at her because she was stuck there. It was quite a funny and random moment.

Q: There is a lot of talk about diversity and inclusion, and how photography acts as a catalyst in shaping stories. So, how does your practice ensure that you are covering a range of subjects?

Jhangiani: I major in commercial photography. So, right now, a lot of clients that we work with are trying to keep all of this in mind. But most of what we do is instructed by the clients. So, we do not really get much creative freedom to get into this. But when we are doing more editorial work, I think we keep an open mind and have more freedom to do what we like.

 

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Q: Who are the photographers you are inspired by the most?

Jhangiani: Unlike many fashion photographers who base their work on a signature style, the character of Steven Meisel’s work is intriguingly diverse. Meisel has definitely inspired me because of his diversity of ideas and compositions.

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