Touching everything with a zest

If one zooms past into Richa's life one can discern unflinching dedication, commitment and sheer hard work behind the flame and glory she is basking in.

An award-winning fashion photographer, a successful entrepreneur, a TEDx speaker, a fitness-enthusiast Richa has registered her name in Limca Book of Records.

An avid traveller and a philanthropist Richa's professional journey began when she was pursuing a Degree in fashion communication from the prestigious National Institute of Fashion & Technology (NIFT), Delhi. One of her professors noticed her innate talent in photography and egged her on to pursue it and like a sincere student, she did it with utter seriousness.

Around the same time, a college friend trusted her skills and offered her an advertising assignment in the third year of college itself. Fighting nervousness and overcoming setbacks, she completed her first assignment as per client's expectations.

This gave a major boost to her confidence and photography, which till now seemed like a mere hobby, soon became her career. Today, this lenswoman-entrepreneur runs a successful brand named 'RichaMaheshwari Films & Photography' with a huge base of national and international clientele.

Sharing about her journey in photography, she says, "The fact that I could convey ideas and creative thoughts in form of pictures, spurred me to learn and start experimenting.

Clicking pictures of our projects in college NIFT instilled the fashion aesthetics; the creative eye and it really helped me in understanding the needs of the fashion market I serve. A fashion student knows how to translate the vision fashionably."

She says, "Travelling has widened my horizons. It is a source of inspiration which I pick from different countries, cultures and history. I have shot in many countries including Netherlands, Italy, France, Hungary, Japan, Jordan, Thailand etc.

Also working with professionals from different countries on daily basis, has given my work a global touch."

About her first moment of success, she says "I am a self-taught photographer. My first project was when I was still studying in college and was not that strong technically with camera and lights. There were many things, which I learnt about my equipment on the spot.

I wasn't nervous at all and I think that really helped me in getting a decent outcome." 30-year-old Richa shares her fitness routine as, "I finished college weighing almost 72 kg because I used to just eat and study. With time I learnt that my work demanded a lot of fitness. This pushed me to join gym and that's how I started getting serious with results.

It's been almost seven years I have been training myself. I work out six days in a week and the day I miss it , I ensure a do some sort of exercise or running at home."

Sharing her Limca Record for the most number of burpees in one minute, she says, "I gained stamina to do intense cardio over years of training and surprisingly, I used to do highest repetitions of the strictest exercise in my gym, even more than the guys.

Burpees was detested by all. So, I took it up. I was made to do 200-300 burpees in a day for a month, sometimes even 100 in a go. That made me very confident of breaking the record."

Explaining her experience about teaching photography to the visually-challenged, she says, " Being associated with National Association for the Blind (NAB) for a long time, it spurred me to do something for the benefit of kids there and the best I could give back to society and to them is through my work."

About her inspiration she shares, "The kids at NAB have been a source of inspiration for me at various levels; the way they lead their lives without complaining, the zest to learn new things and negating the impossible, taking up their daily struggles with a smile.

I wanted to be a part of their growth, even if could be of any use to them or extend any service which could empower them. Since my specialisation lies in photography and it was something beyond imagination for anyone to accept that the visually impaired kids could take up photography as a serious subject, I decided to impart them with the basics of photography, to begin with.

I got Nikon point and shoot cameras sponsored for them, which was handy and did not require a great deal of settings. Not to my surprise, the kids picked up the rules and basics really quick. It's been more than a year now and it is mind boggling to watch their work, the finesse with which they follow the rules and the perfection of framing."

Despite having achieved so much at a young age, she is in no mood for relaxing. At the moment, she is busy honing her filmmaking skills. She has made a few documentaries on issues like blindness and women empowerment but wants to develop the same command over videography as she has on still images.

"All these professional journeys have been quite immersive and experience-laden for me. I just want to keep exploring further opportunities in my field," she says talking about her future plans.