You can't miss the boom in photography today. Credit it to Ranbir Kapoor making it cool through his movies or the bomb that is social media. Be it city events like the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival or a fort trail in the Sahyadris, a digital SLR camera or a DSLR is the expected companion. If sales of DSLRs and admissions to photography schools are any indicator, photography seems to be growing into more than just a casual hobby.

A photographer brings the Taj hotel in frame, with the Gateway of India in background. Pics/Bipin Kokate

Why the rise?
“Photography today is a positive indulgence unlike spending time on Facebook or on smartphones. Parents are encouraging their children to take it up as a profession, which wasn't accepted earlier,” shares Dr Alok Bharadwaj, executive vice president of Canon India. Vishal Bhende, director of Symbiosis School of Photography (Pune) seconds this thought. “Earlier people would pursue BA or a B Com as a degree course and perceive photography as a big risk as a profession. But today people are keen to pursue an MFA or even a PhD in photography; parents discuss with me about different courses that are available, and show a keen interest and a level of seriousness towards it,” he believes. Bhende adds that rather than opting for traditional educational streams, today, his students have cleared their standard 12 by applying for degree courses in photography.