Transcriber: Nicholas DeSante Reviewer: Emma Gon
So what did you see? What did you notice?
How do you feel?
You can observe as a photographer, I’m able to capture emotion,
expression, and draw a connection
and have complete control over every aspect of the scene.
I’m a sports photographer. I shoot one of the fastest sports in the world.
Badminton is my passion,
but sports photography is my muse.
(Applause)
Today, I’d like to share my story and the power of pause through my lens.
There’s a great power in the pause.
In my own fast-paced field of photography
I apply this meaningful pause
which has often compelled me
to stop, admire, and self-reflect on the chaos of our time.
My journey as a badminton player started very early on in my life.
The will to get into the school team,
to winning multiple tournaments, and keeping up with my studies.
My early childhood was sprawled between badminton and badminton.
Badminton was fairly a new sport in Mangalore with minimal exposure.
But as a young player, I always thought I could do more. I could do more.
It is exciting and scary
to start your own academy, especially if you’re still an undergrad.
But the vision for Golden Shuttle empowered me,
helped me rise to the challenge.
Help me truly listen to my inner self and channel my creativity.
Our vision for Golden Shuttle
is to develop pathways from grassroot
to the future champions.
We are an academy
who train players as well as coaches with accessibility
and sustainability in Mangalore.
We train 200 players across our three centres.
(Applause)
Badminton has been my passion, and what better than photography to express it?
My day kick starts early, making sure all the games of badminton are equipped
for a long day.
I would have my matches schedule, lists of players to shoot,
and keep an eye for any clues and possible upsets.
My day requires intense concentration.
If I drift away even for a second, I miss something.
Once I’m in the arena, I have a game plan in my mind.
I try to identify different spots to capture those creative shots.
It’s so much more than just pointing the camera and clicking pictures.
It’s about understanding the moment,
and it’s all the chaos and it’s in the moment
of chaos that truly allows me to appreciate the art.
I’m extremely grateful for Badminton Photo
for giving me the opportunity to cover
some of the major events in badminton.
Starting with the World Seniors in Kochi,
and then I covered three editions of India Open,
two editions of World Juniors, one in Russia, and recently in Spain.
I’ve covered the European Championship in Ukraine,
Sudirman Cup in Finland,
and most recently I’ve covered the Commonwealth Games,
and I was fortunate enough to not just capture badminton,
[but] also other sports like titi,
weightlifting and boxing.
(Applause)
This is one of my favorite pictures where, if you notice,
probably he would want to be a piano player,
but his parents forced him to be a weightlifter.
(Applause)
I really like this picture because
it’s very rare to get that cuts in boxing.
But despite that brutal cut, he kept punching,
to a point he almost knocked his opponent,
but the referee had to call off the match
because the more he punched the cut was quite brutal.
And I was lucky to capture these shots.
(Applause)
This is Lakshya Sen winning its first Commonwealth gold. It’s his winning photo.
This is Chirag and Satwik celebrating their Commonwealth gold medal
and he’s throwing his shirt to the audience.
This is P.V. in the winning her Commonwealth gold before.
(Applause)
And while in the United Kingdom, I couldn’t have tea with the royals,
but I did get to capture them.
This is King Charles.
But then life...
Sometimes hits you with a surreal experience, which is not in your control.
I was in Ukraine covering the European Championship 2021
when India was on its knees in the second COVID wave
with an uptick in quarantine rules,
travel chaos, and restriction everywhere.
I had no choice but to stay back and extend my stay.
That is when I decided to visit Chernobyl.
We all know Chernobyl is the worst nuclear disaster known to mankind.
And a reminder
of how an innocent had to pay the price.
Yeah, that’s a cat.
Capturing this was the most difficult thing I ever had to do.
I could go on to say that I’d taken way too many poses
just to process what I was seeing.
And the desire to be a better version of ourselves, we tend to speed the process.
We like setting goals rigorously. Many, sometimes too many.
What’s next? Another goal and another. The process continues.
But how do we give ourselves the gift of stillness?
From time to time,
how do we accept and process our thoughts?
But we implement all the knowledge we have gained.
When was the last time you took a pause
and reflected upon your own thoughts and journey?
Thank you.