One of photography’s most familiar, original subjects has been getting a fresh ‘exposure’. The picturesque outdoors of Theni town, nestling in the foothills of the Western Ghats in southern Tamil Nadu, has long been an inspiration for nature photographers, amateur and professional. In recent years, this rural setting has been a backdrop for another genre—baby photography.
Chandini Ramesh, a 29-year-old mother who bought a camera to shoot her newborn daughter, has converted her hobby into a flourishing business. “I was surprised by the demand for baby photography in a small town like Theni. But that is the power of social media—when friends and relatives saw my daughter Akshara’s photos that I posted on Instagram, they wanted their babies to be photographed similarly, in similar settings,” says Chandini.
Used to flat studio portraits with tawdry backgrounds, townsfolk were floored by the look of Chandini’s ‘newborns’—lovingly swaddled in towels, snugly held up in baskets with props like stuffed toys and flowers and illuminated with soft lighting. Chandini picked up these tricks in a workshop conducted by Chennai’s Amrita Samant, a pioneer in baby photography.
Chandini, who gave up a lecturer’s job in Coimbatore after she got married and moved to Theni, has photographed over 35 babies—the youngest was a 12 days old—since January. Though she initially did not charge anything, Chandini has now put a price tag to her efforts after she invested over Rs 70,000 in props and converted a portion of her home into a studio.
But before Chandini, there were the two moms from Coimbatore who have established themselves as the textile city’s most-sought-after baby photographers. The two friends—Sarvina and Anu, both photographers—decided to collaborate and started their joint venture, BabyTrails Photography, in 2015.
“Word-of-mouth recommendations helped us in the first few months, then our social media outreach took over. As business picked up we invested in our set up—an airy and well-lit studio, with a range of props and accessories required for this genre, even a separate feeding room for the infants. Being mothers helped us establish an easy rapport with parents who were initially nervous. And handling kids came naturally to us,” recalls Anu, 35. Today, the duo’s monthly turnover runs into lakhs of rupees.
Their photographs of infants—some as young as five days—soon caught on furiously in Coimbatore and nearby districts. “While most shoots happen in our studio we visit homes too, especially if the mother is not fit to travel. Since capturing the newborn in the first 15 days, with their little, clenched fists and curled-up posture is important, we would travel with a few props,” explains Sarvina, 33. “While parents and relatives may click innumerable photos with their mobile phones, the effects created in our studio are unmatched. Like the first time we convinced a father to cradle his seven-day-old baby. His nervousness, contrasting with the child’s utterly blissful expression proved to be a classic. Mobile phone photos don’t last; our photos will keep fresh this unique experience and help children, in later years, recall their infanthood,” says Anu. She and Sarvina actually were keen on ‘birthing’ pictures—taken soon after the newborn was delivered and was held close by the exhausted mother. But hospitals were apprehensive, thinking it could get them into trouble with authorities.
At Theni, Chandini came up against a wall of misgivings…from grandmothers. “While parents were game, grandmas would object and ask, ‘how can a pachai kulandhai (tender infant) be photographed?’ Like many, they feared the ‘evil eye’. After much cajoling, they relent; I show the first photo to them. Their apprehension turns into boundless joy once they see their grandkids radiating beauty and innocence,” she remembers.
Years of photographing babies—over 1,000 photographed in the past five years—have given Sarvina and Anu a sixth sense about how each baby would respond before a click. “It is difficult to explain the instant vibes we enjoy with these babies. Somehow, we can anticipate the moment they would smile in their sleep, or even whimper or grimace for no reason,” observes Sarvina.
Agrees Amrita Samant,34, the matriarch, if you like, of child photography, who has studios in Chennai, Bangalore and Singapore. “Even in the couple of hours I spend with a baby I manage to establish a rapport. While giving importance to aesthetics—like the dress and accessories the child would wear and the props—I make sure the child feels comfortable. The secret is to get the best expressions from babies before they get exhausted. Older kids have to be kept engaged so they do not get bored,” points out Amrita, who gave up her HR career to start ‘Mommy Shots by Amrita’ a one-stop destination for maternity and child photography. Amongst the subjects of her more than 1,500 shoots are children of celebrities from the film and the sports world.
Amrita wants this niche photographic endeavour to flourish and conducts workshops for budding child photographers, advising them on business plans to kickstart their ventures. She even takes tutorials on different wrapping styles for newborns to make them look prettier. Many young parents from tier-two towns, like Chandini, attend her workshops. “I was surprised to have students from small towns like Sivakasi and Tuticorin. Though they came to learn to take pictures of their own kids I am sure they would evolve into full-fledged child photographers,” says this pioneer who has chosen to stay single.
Through her constant contact with mothers and infants, Amrita has become an ambassador for the causes of breastfeeding and donating mother’s milk and uses her prize-winning images to promote them. “Ultimately, all of us love babies and we want them to grow up healthy,” she reasons.
Amrita feels infant photographers will be in demand so long as parents want their babies to look special, to preserve those early images—capturing the very first stage to which all later milestones of their offsprings’ lives will be traced. “Parents will continue to take pictures, but the dad or mom would be missing in that photo. So getting photographed with their kids should be worth preserving and our photos should make them relive memories,” says Amrita. To immortalise, through her art, the early days of a life—every baby photographer should work towards that end.
By G.C. Shekhar in Chennai
