Passion project frames new clients for Mumbai photographer.

Fighting back from a bout of depression Indian photographer Akshay Jamwal embarked on a 365 day marathon of self portraits. His passion project became his calling card, and since 2012 he has been a pioneer in the India market for headshots. He shares openly about how he managed to turn his darkest moments into a way to get noticed, his views on the merits of authenticity and the impact of Linkedin on the Indian market for photography.

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Transcript

Akshay Jamwal: 0:00

A lot of creative professionals and entrepreneurs will probably think that the personal work is unimportant or their passion projects are up are not that important but they are what differentiate you from everyone else in the market in my opinion and that's what clients typically notice instead of the kind that we fire away at our clients the kind of content that we think our clients will want to see.

Jim James: 0:25

Welcome To this episode of the unnoticed show And today I've got a really special guest joining me all the way from Mumbai who pioneered a series of self-portraits the way back in 2013 that is still getting in business today Akshay Singh Jamwal joining me from Mumbai Hello

Akshay Jamwal: 0:43

hi Jim Thanks for having me

Jim James: 0:45

are more than welcome and I've loved the photography that I've seen on your website akshayjamwal.com us if you can what you've been doing to get noticed both as a professional photographer but also for your clients about this self portrait series that you did that years later it's still getting your business

Akshay Jamwal: 1:04

Well okay it has a bit of a backstory that I hadn't originally planned on doing these self portraits as a means of marketing or differentiating myself from other people But oddly enough that's what they turned out to be 2012 I was in a deep dark place after coming out of a really long relationship And there was a business that I had set up with my then partner which Joe was stuck with And my photography business had taken a bit of a as it was assault so the whole self portrait project was just a way of me to get my creative juices flowing again And to just exercise key to muscle So to speak the idea was to take one self portrait for every single day and to do something different on each day And originally I hadn't thought much of it It was just something fun to do But as the days weeks and months progressed it started getting more and more traction in that more people started noticing it There were a couple of photographs that we use byad agencies and she's and businesses

Jim James: 2:15

Yeah Well let's just step back a second there Akshay because I've seen the photographs I've got them in of me They're absolutely stunning Couple of things One is that this became a passion project which is great as a message to everybody out there that just leveraging on your on what you love and what you do actually be both cathartic but also be productive You took these photographs but did you share them every day because you don't just take them keep them If you're like in the camera and people start to use them you must have started to share them So as you just take us through how you if you're like exposed if you'll pardon the pun the pictures

Akshay Jamwal: 2:52

yeah so I have just shared them on my Facebook page and at the time and even now my Facebook page doesn't have that many followers but I think it's a Testament to a good content or content that gets you noticed if even if you have a really small follower base if you put out content that it remains in people's minds after they log off you effectively go into the men in their minds So even today if people ask me what I'm doing whether I've I'm doing self still doing self-portraits and this is a eight nine years later aye A lot of creative professionals and entrepreneurs will probably think that the personal work is unimportant or their passion projects are up are not that important but they are what differentiate you from everyone else in the market in my opinion and that's what clients typically notice instead of the kind that we fire away at our clients the kind of content that we think our clients will want to see.

Jim James: 3:54

So Akshay looking at the photographs that got which are amazing they are all Very different Some are humorous some are serious Some are moody You talk about sharing the authentic self Do you encourage people to do that When there are so many different facets to the individual and are there some that you shouldn't a potential clients

Akshay Jamwal: 4:18

I don't think that there are too many facets that you shouldn't show to potential clients to be honest unless you're being a jerk shorter of being a jerk I don't think there is a limitation of any sort but you've touched on a good point I think people are if you look at LinkedIn for example 90% of people on LinkedIn are lurkers They don't really do anything They don't they just scroll past the feed They won't even they won't comment They want to like but that there they can just I think a lot people are really scared about people Other people judging them And it's a baseless kind of fear Nobody is out there to judge you okay sure But some people might judge you but the world at large I think will want to see what you have say as an individual and as those photos prove it's the it's that diversity That people were interested in is that like you said somewhat humorous ostentatious it's all of that people are interested in They're not interested in any one thing They're not interested only in the humor or Only in ostentatious or whatever

Jim James: 5:21

what's interesting about your passion project Is that coming from a place of some like a low point that you use this creativity in a very brave way to share about your personality Because other people might have not done that So that's to be Akshay what about Static pictures versus moving pictures We all know about the picture superiority effect and also about the video effect you think that pictures can do enough or do you think people really need to their time also creating video

Akshay Jamwal: 5:56

You probably need to create a mix I think What percentage of content should be video or what percentage of it be full throughs or text It comes down to your your individual strengths If you ask me so if you could ask a photographer obviously most photographers are going to tell you that you should probably share more photos if you were looking at if you're speaking to a videographer they're going to probably say that video is the best way And if you're speaking to a writer to say That text is best personally I've found that it's a mix of all of them that gets people to listen at the end of the day It's just more than anything else It's just visibility If you continually show up consistently show up on social media or even if you're just updating your website and you have RSS subscribers for instance It it will get you noticed

Jim James: 6:46

Okay That's really interesting And I see also on your website that you've got for example the pollinator project about bees and you've got a travel essay So are you what you do for clients and for yourself Is that really just a considered strategy Cause most people just say this is my client portfolio personal stuff kind of offline Oh

Akshay Jamwal: 7:08

I definitely wouldn't keep it offline some of that stuff is mostly ignored by certain types of clients I don't think any of the corporate portrait clients are interested in the pollinator project for instance but it does get me some attention from so for example a while back there was someone who was writing for the ecologists who wanted to use one of the photos And it did eventually use one of the photos from the pollinator project he was a writer and of those photos is now in a magazine

Jim James: 7:34

So maybe we'll you touched on an interesting point there about what you do and don't stand for of to their team photographs on How do you Because many companies have maybe the founder and the CEO and photographs are on the website Are you a fan of that or do you think should just be one person's photograph What's your advice photographer's and for someone also is view on social media

Akshay Jamwal: 8:03

I don't I don't think there's a one size fits all answer to that question It depends on the company What kind of site design is involved some companies don't even really Need photographs I it's probably strange to hear that from photographer but most of my clients would probably benefit from having individual photos of their team members on say an about page or something like that I would say that If you are an entrepreneur especially or if you are someone who is maybe starting a business then it's important to have a professionally taken photograph of you on your website And one that one that is natural and makes you look like your normal self If that makes sense

Jim James: 8:46

Yeah Okay And now interests you say one size doesn't fit all but you are in an interesting place you're in India So be remiss of me not to venture into what's different obviously you're in the home of Bollywood and all things glamorous in India Have you got any particular friends or insights about the Indian market and how photography is used that may be different to how it's used in other markets

Akshay Jamwal: 9:11

India is a bit of a strange kind of country It's it's a dichotomy in so many ways There are certain markets which are really hyper developed And then there are markets which don't have any kind of visibility at all and hardly any people in it so for example the fashion space and the commercial photography your space is it is probably what most people think of as photography And the only other industry in photography industry in India which was active as wedding photography which is boomed in the last 15 years but everything else is up for grabs I am one of the very few headshot photographers in India I know that's strange thing to say but if you search headshot photographer India I'll be on the first page of Google for instance with harden and many other competitors Most of the other competitors are also doing 10 other things They'll typically be like a wedding photographer who also does headshots or a commercial photographer who also might be might have head shots in his portfolio just because it might also sell occasionally But if you are a specialist of any or any sorts then India is is strange It depends on what your speciality is

Jim James: 10:23

And is that because there are not that many people that understand the value of the headshot yet India Or commercial And I know weddings as you say have grown why do you think is in India That there are not that people specializing

Akshay Jamwal: 10:37

Yeah absolutely When I first started doing headshots in India people would ask me what is that Is that a passport photo And this is not all that far back this is just like 2012 2013 This is I don't know At the same time that I started doing my self portrait project is when I also started advertising myself as a headshot photographer And back then people didn't know didn't even know what headshots were Now I get people saying that I need a headshot from LinkedIn So part of it I think it's just because world the internet has made the world a village So people know what people will probably look at their colleagues in say maybe the USA or the UK and then realize that there is value to having a professional headshot on say their LinkedIn profile

Jim James: 11:21

So it's becoming globally competitive isn't it And I suppose a lot of companies that have out So the knock short into India we'll have executives there I know some of my clients like tech data have got offices in India and they want to have narrative across all the personnel in terms of their online presence Are there any aspects of photographing Indian lions that you found particularly different or unique to photography outside of India

Akshay Jamwal: 11:52

The only thing I think that I can think of is that Indians tend to be just a little more conscious of themselves So I have my work is usually little more cut out for me when it is someone who's in India was maybe doing it because a lot of Indians are getting the headshots done professionally for the first time when they call me that's a little different people from Indians who either worked abroad stay abroad Or are going abroad and at returning or returning from the UK or whatever a lot of Indians who call me are first time I was saying that okay I've never done this before You're going to have to really work Yeah which is what I love to hear that because it's a wonderful process I love seeing a person transformed from a nervous wreck into something that Into something that's conducive to a LinkedIn profile photograph

Jim James: 12:42

So really you've been a pioneer Akshay in India on several fronts right One your personal portrait series and now helping more and more Indians become If you're like profile shot ready for the international market That's fantastic

Akshay Jamwal: 12:56

well okay I'll take that Thank you

Jim James: 12:59

absolutely You should do And if there's a trend now in India do you see anything happening in the next four to five years that you think will change the course of Indian photography

Akshay Jamwal: 13:13

so I think people will definitely be Using more photography and video as part of the marketing message people are realizing companies are realizing the power of photographs and video And a lot of it is of it a lot of the content that companies are putting out is like a shot in the dark at this point the one of the things to remember about India is that it is a very price-conscious market So it's a little different from other markets Like even Singapore for example quality is more important than price in India price kind of rules All right And so with that in mind A lot of companies will probably make the mistake and I've had some of my clients make this mistake as well of thinking that they have a really off Having a really tight budget for photography or videography and then creating content that actually devalued and then calling me three or four months later when they realize that it's not doing anything for them And this might just be this might be a photograph or even a video or something of some sort so that is slowly changing in India People companies are realizing the value of photography and video as a marketing vehicle so far it's been mostly unprofessional afforded I shouldn't say unprofessional photographs that haven't been taken by a professional overdues that haven't been done professionally Let's say that like I said they're devalues your brand over time

Jim James: 14:44

Okay It sounds like you're the man to go to people wanting to professionalize their image or even have a series self-portraits over 365 days How people find you If they want to talk to you and have a photography done by you in India

Akshay Jamwal: 14:59

people can find me on my website at akshayjamwal.com or they can email me at akshay@akshayjamwal.com

Jim James: 15:06

And I'll also put that the show notes for anyone that didn't catch that Thank you so much for joining We've had a lot of fun today

Akshay Jamwal: 15:12

Thank you Jim It was fun to me too

Jim James: 15:15

So you've been to Akshay Singh Jamwal who is based in Mumbai One of India's leading portrait photographers really pioneered the portraits but also led with a 2013 passion project where he photographed himself For 365 days And that led getting more and more work and really becoming a man of great reputation in the Indian market So thank you to him for joining and thank you to you for joining me on the unnoticed And until we meet again I wish you the best of health a profitable business and that If you're going to get a photograph spend the money and have a professional to help you because it will be brand Thank you for listening