The mild mid-afternoon sun streaks light into the double-height studio, illuminating the canvas photograph of Jimmy choo stilettos on the wall. From where I sit on the cyan-blue couch and look around at the other canvas that lay scattered in the studio, I realise how a to-be-married couple would feel when they visit to book their photographer – in awe and assured of being in the right place.As I place the glass of water given to me on the cherry table – I think and plan hard on how to begin. But I didn’t really have to, Waseem steps down from the staircase, a ready smile, and outstretched arm. “I’m always for anything that isn’t just architecture”, he says, as I explain why I’m here.
And the conversation begins.
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Tell me a little bit about yourself, who is Waseem Fiaz Ahmed?
I’m basically from Chennai, my whole family’s been here for quite long. After school I was asked to join Engineering, as most of us are; I hope that trend is changing! Right after 12th, the moment we were done with what we were “supposed to do”, me and my friend Francis joined Rubecon, an advertising agency in the city. They hired us as part-time employees for the next few years. Meanwhile, we still weren’t sure of what we wanted to do – he wanted to pursue architecture and me, VISCOM, but circumstances made us do the exact opposites (laughs).
Architecture wasn’t too bad a choice for me because it would keep me open to creative fields. And plus, it’s not boring like Engineering; I’m a little more inclined towards the creative side, so it worked for me. I worked with the advertising company for about 3 years as a writer. I learned a lot of things there that set me up for the rest of my life. The people there guided us in several ways – we learned how to deal with clients, how to market a brand, and so on. We learned from the best.
So, you worked part-time through the first few years of Architecture school?! How did you manage that? That’s quite a lot of work!
Yeah, it was! I used to go to college from 9-4 and after that took a bus to the office till 9. It was quite close by and worked well. I used to manage college work by finishing most of it in college, or just do it over the weekends. Thankfully, I was really good at drawing, so I hardly took any time to do my sheets; that really helped me in pursuing other things. I never used to bring work to home much, unless, you know, it’s last-minute submission work!
And then, photography happened…
Yeah, around 3rd year, I took a little more time off from advertising and got into photography. My dad bought me a phone camera during 12th standard and I used to take nice pictures on the basic phone camera. And then, because I took to it, dad presented me another camera. I had won a few competitions back in 12th so that really pushed me up in this pursuit. The actual awakening with photography came when someone in the office noticed that I was good at it and encouraged me and taught me the basics of an SLR. I needed that push to go professional.
So, how did Weddings by WFA start?
It just so happened that one of my friend’s friend was getting married and her photographer backed out last-minute – and I got the job! I was quite scared, as I didn’t want to do it just for the money, but I took it up anyway; I felt they were asking me because they appreciated what I did. When I went there, I was the only photographer- putting yourself in a position like that really works. I had, at that time, just a basic camera with not even a flash on it. So, you can imagine that it was quite an amateur job. But the parents really loved the photographs; when I gave it to them, the dad actually cried when he saw the pictures. That was quite moving and was a turning point for me, I could see that what I did could evoke emotion. This is what we try to do as architects, actually. We talk so much about invoking emotion with our work, and that was what happened! They gifted me a watch, which I still have in my drawer.
This was during the 5th semester of college. Since then I started photographing weddings, and didn’t think much about the money- I used to charge around Rs. 3000 for a wedding.
That’s quite less!
Yeah, but I was scared to take even that much money because I never thought that what I did was worth that much. Over time I learned that I should start valuing my work. I had to make the difficult decision in increasing the pricing, and that’s where the advertising background helped. Once I knew what I was good at, it helped me set myself up. And things went on from there.
And architecture kind of faded off into the background –do you ever feel that architecture helped you in this, in any way?
Subconsciously, yes. I will always put it down to that because it helped me form the basis of good taste, I would say. I think to be a good architect, you need to be a person with good taste. Otherwise, you’d just be another contractor, or a drafter or a builder, basically the money-making side of the field. But, if you want to be someone artistic, you need to have good taste. All those random exercises we used to do in the 1st year, basic design and the rules of composition, really helped me. Every time you put a camera to your eye, you need to follow those rules which, now, come naturally to me.
So it’s now been how many years since you started?
Started in photography? It’s been around 10 years.
The start is always the hardest, right- all the self-doubt, and adrenaline? How did that you handle all that initial pressure, if I can call it that?
Yeah, well, the initial years I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. In fact, if you check my Facebook page, I don’t know if I’ve changed it but, 2 years ago, my page said on the bio – something like “What will Waseem be” – architect or photographer or writer. I still wasn’t decided on what I wanted to be; I could never fix on it, I was just doing too many things. But, for the past 4-5 years, I made sure that I concentrated only on Wedding photography. I believe if you’re doing something you should do it with your entire heart. I see a lot of people trying to get involved in a lot of things – trying to be an architect, trying to be something else, opening up many things – but I really believe you have to be sincere about what you pursue, only then will it bring success to you.
Being a start-up, trying to make money out of it then selling it to go to the next business, I don’t know how that feels like. It’ll probably increase your bank balance, but I don’t know how much satisfaction that’ll give at the end of the day.
And that really matters, in life.
For me, it does. But, apparently, for a lot of people it doesn’t, so, I don’t know. Many people probably just think about the money.
Did you ever consider the other streams in photography; though you seem to have a strong personal connect with Weddings in particular?
Initially, yes. I started out like most other people. All my friends were part of my photography experiments! I’m just glad that they trusted me and came with me for experimental shoots. At that time, I was thinking of getting into fashion or movies. It sounded glamorous – at 20 years old that would appeal more than a wedding. I realised later on that photographing weddings was personal to me as I could get involved with human emotion. As I said, that’s the very thing we think about when practising architecture – how it affects the person you do it for. The photos I was taking started moving people; it started meaning something to them and had a timeless quality about it.
I didn’t like the sound of movies or fashion, after that. It’s nice once in a while, especially when you don’t do it for money. But once you start doing it commercially, there are too many people telling you what to do. And there is no connect emotionally – you just do it because you’re good at it, perhaps. For me, dealing with people has a good emotional effect.
You have done around 600 weddings so far. What has been the best part of this?
The best part is getting involved with a lot of people’s lives. Almost every client we’ve shot for has become our friend. We get involved in a lot of stories in life -we’re there right from the time they met their loved ones, and till today we stay in touch. Most of our clients come through referrals because people really like us and pass the word on. So, it forms a really big network in our lives. And being involved with so many love stories has a huge positive impact. It feels good to be there for the best moments in someone’s life.
What about the worst parts?
In the early days when I was shooting alone, it used to be quite stressful because I was alone and everything depended on how I shoot the moment, and many times there are several people blocking the view. Handling things like that was difficult. Apart from that, nothing else is really hard. You just need to be prepared for the stress that comes with the wedding- the early mornings and the late nights. But that comes with any work you do in life. If you’re committed to something you need to give it your everything. Now, I have a team of about 10 people who back me up. Very talented people who’ve started from a very young age with me. I’m glad that they share the passion and enthusiasm I have for this work.
In your website, you’ve said: “Photography helped you SEE again”. What is that about?
A little-known fact that I don’t necessarily advertise, I have back vision, since 16 years old. I don’t have stereo vision like everyone else, meaning depth perception is hard. That’s why photography really meant a lot to me. The moment I got special lenses, I started getting serious about photography. Yeah, you can say that. You just need to use these things to your advantage. There are too many people out there complaining about themselves. I’m just happy that I was able to get into something that I love doing and which meant something to me. In a way, I was really lucky that people pushed me towards this. Appreciation counts for a lot.
What is your work schedule like?
Ah, Weddings have no fixed schedule in a year! Our body of work envelopes all religions. We’re not known for shooting any particular type of weddings. There’s this very interesting fact about our clientele, actually – because of the kind of work we do, and the kind of photos we produce and the kind of emotions we capture, you’ll find that the random family who just wants a photographer doesn’t come to us; only the people who are really in love with each other come to us. So my clientele gets filtered out because of the kinds of photos we produce. It’s like a circle- we get the kind of clients who are totally in love with each other and want beautiful pictures of their wedding and we produce that kind of pictures and thus we get similar referrals for new clients. It forms a circle for us which we’re really happy to be in the centre of. Because I believe that only the people who are really in love with each other want this kind of emotions captured. Others probably want pretty pictures, but not this intense with emotion.
Now that you’re all set with Weddings by WFA, is there any turning back?
No, now I have dedicated myself to this. I do practice other things while I’m free. I dabble in graphic design and advertising sometimes. I do small interior projects, but nothing on a commercial scale, only with people who matter to me.
Parental support is a huge factor in this aspect, how did your parents react when you told them what you’re up to?
Yeah, parental support is very important. Even though my parents wanted me to do Engineering initially, it was only because they are part of the generation where everyone else was telling them that. Once I started architecture, they really supported me when I did everything else. My family is, especially, a very unorthodox family- they are the kind of people who are easy-going and appreciate the good things in life. Now, they love what I do.
While in Architecture school, you seem to have won quite a few laurels?
Yeah, I have, actually. I have been involved in two HUDCO trophies and I was U-sec as well, for my college. We won NASA, and G-Sen and many things like that. I’m actually quite good at architecture, I’m just past the trouble doing it. (laughs)
So, the shift from architecture, that decision came quite easily to you.
If you’re good at it and committed to it, it won’t be hard. You just have to prove people wrong, which won’t take much time. But if you’re just giving it a half-hearted shot then, there’s no point in it.
Many other people find that shift really hard to decide upon. Any advice?
Just do what you like, don’t listen to anybody.
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(Waseem F.Ahmed is founder and owner at Weddings by WFA, a premier Wedding photography brand based in Chennai, who believe in a class journalistic approach to capturing one of the most important moments of a person’s life, as said on their Facebook page. You can also find them on Instagram.
All photographs in article are courtesy of Weddings by WFA)
