Concreting the ‘Giggles’ of your child

Concreting the ‘Giggles’ of your child

In the race of being the best one amongst others, people have lost the kid inside them. However, there are some people who are living like the kid in them by being around them and working towards capturing their smile. Ankit Chawla, the founder of Giggles- a organisation that aims to capture small to big moments of your kid‘s life, is amongst those who love kids and always wanted to work around them.

Graduated in Mass communication, Ankit had plans to study further; however his plans could never work out. He also tried working with his father but eventually it could also not hold his interest for long. Photography being his hobby, he thought why not to amalgamate the art of photography with his love for kids and eventually he began his journey through Facebook.

He made a page and posted some of the photographs that he clicked of the kids in his family. “One thing I was sure of was that I want to work around kids. I even thought of working with a kid’s magazine or channel or to open up a play school or something. Since photography was one of my hobbies since college times, I thought of clubbing both things together. So I began by making a Facebook page and posted pictures of the kids in my family with no intention of making it a profession. It was a naive idea and at a very baby stage. For three to four months, I would upload pictures without a watermark, imagine!”

“Then I met a friend who was working as a general manager at central stage mall Noida and she wanted me to promote myself with them on Valentine Day. She suggested of giving it a try and if the response would be good then it can be thought of as a career. She contacted me on 5th February and by 8th February I got the confirmation for putting up a stall at the mall.

In matter of few days, I somehow managed to make some samples of my photographs and some coffee table books to portray on Valentine Day. The reaction was Luke warm, but then it worked out and I thought of making it a career.”

Having spent three years in the field of kid photography, Ankit feels that it is necessary to be a child to learn something in life. “I feel ego stops you from growing in life. I believe in nothingness and being open and accepting of whatever is happening in life as that helps you in growing in life”, says Ankit.

The only motive is to capture the small giggles or quirky smiles the kids have on their faces. He believes in conducting pre-shoot consulting sessions with the parents to know about the habits, the sleeping time and other things about the child, so that when he starts the shoot, they are completely being themselves instead of being cranky, sleepy or so on.

Sharing one of his first shoot experience Ankit said, “My first assignment was with a cranky child. I spent almost three hours with him before the shoot and there came a time when he was hitting me with his toys. Somehow the shoot ended and the pictures came out well and the customers were happy. However, when I got my first pay from the clients I didn’t know what to do with it. In fact, I was surprised about the fact that I was getting so much just for playing with a child.”

Ankit feels that capturing kids is way better than shooting celebrities or fashion events as you don’t have to deal with tantrums and you feel rejuvenated after working with kids. “I start photography of kids from their first day in this world. We have a package called first-day photos, where I visit the hospital in which the baby is born. I believe there is no right age or wrong age to do photography with a child.

I really enjoy working with babies who are two plus for the reason that you can interact with them. You don’t have to make them pose; it is just like a play date with them. So, you are either taking them to the garden or getting some props to their places which are quite exciting for them.”

Expressing about how he tackles parents, Ankit says, “When you shoot, you have to deal with all sort of parents. Some parents would trust you and are there to help with whatever you want and some have their own ideas. As our services are customised, we have to consider the parents take too. And there are some people who are really hygiene conscious and are not comfortable with their child sitting on grass and so on. So, yes sometimes there are clashes but we do find a way out.”

Ankit believes in making themes according to the behaviour patterns of a kid which he gets to know through their parents. “There are no themes, we do pre-consultations where I ask parents to send in few recent pictures, talk about the baby’s schedule, their interest, favourite members etc. and when this is done, I think of a theme. Every shoot is unique and different as every theme is based on the baby. I believe in capturing kids the way they are.”

Although Ankit’s parents were very sceptical and unsure about his choice, when they saw him growing and doing well they started supporting him. For Ankit, kids have become a source of happiness that keeps inspiring him for experimenting and creating something new and different. No matter how long it takes for him to complete his shoot, he never feels worked up as he is doing what he always dreamt of. And this is what he advices others- to take up what they love as nothing else would keep them satisfied and happy in life.