Celeb lensman Shrestha shifts focus to basketball players from Tamil Nadu

Drawing on a legacy from his father Rakesh Shrestha, Rohan’s passion for photography was fuelled from his childhood. At a very young age, he has worked with numerous celebrities, photographed covers and editorials and has developed campaigns of several leading brands. The well-known celebrity photographer has come out of his comfort zone to do photo documentation about veteran basketball players from Periyakulam in Tamil Nadu. In a chat with us, the lensman opens up about the reason for doing the project and his experiences.

"My dad is from Nepal and mom hails from Goa; so being brought up in a different background I have always been fascinated by the diversity in India. I wanted to explore the country's rich traditions and understand various cultures. I am a huge fan of basketball and decided to combine my love for the sport and photography through a photo book titled Home Court — Inside India’s Unique Basketball Communities. This is co-curated by the NBA," Rohan starts the conversation.

Living in Mumbai his entire life, the 34-year-old was curious to understand what's happening in other parts of the country. To get out of his comfort zone and discovering India is something Rohan has been wanting to do for many years. "While researching about basketball, I came to know about Periyakulam that's sprawled out on the foothills of Kodaikanal. They have a basketball court since 1942 and have been hosting one of India’s oldest basketball tournaments every year. A lot of veterans came forward and were excited to be part of this project. They showed us around and shared some interesting stories," recalls the photographer.

For somebody who has never been beyond Chennai in Tamil Nadu, meeting players from a small town in the state is beyond imagination. "When people come to Maharashtra, they don’t go beyond Mumbai. I was also in a similar state. I have been a Bollywood photographer most of my life and have never gone beyond shooting Bollywood celebrities, fashion, campaigns and so on. Rarely, I do venture into photoshoots with non-celebrities but not in a huge way. For this project, the 'subject' itself changed completely. So my mindset had to change while I was shooting. I travelled to places where I had not been to before. It was an eye-opening experience meeting people and understanding their lifestyle and culture," he shares. Being an admirer of black and white photography, Rohan has followed the same for the book. He believes that the formatcreates timelessness for pictures.

The photographer says that the journey has helped him gain life experiences that he would treasure more than anything else. "The warmth and passion of Tamils fascinated me. Moreover, their pride in the culture of basketball is something thatI will cherish forever," sums up Rohan.