Nirish Shakya

“The main thing that inspires me to keep going is how photography to me is a journey of self-discovery”

Intercru: Where are you from? Where are you living/working now?

Nirish: I’m a Nepalese Australian currently living and working in London.

What was the first camera you ever had?

My dad bought me my first film camera when I was 12 to take with me on a school trip around Europe. It was some no-name point and shoot camera. It was very basic but I loved its wide-angle lens which made me more aware of what’s in the frame. Also, that was my first experience doing travel photography which I loved.

What got you into photography?

Afterwards, I joined the photography club at school and started experimenting with black and white film photography. However, since film was expensive in Nepal, I wasn’t able to shoot as much as I wanted to.

It was my first DSLR camera that I bought in 2010 in Sydney that really got me into photography as it got me shooting more without having to worry about the cost of film. After several failed attempts at street and landscape photography, I almost gave up and my camera started collecting dust in one of my shelves. But that all changed when I went to Nepal in 2013 and took my camera with me. The camera helped me see my country of birth through a new lens (pardon the pun!) and I was instantly gravitated towards shooting people and their emotions.

What are some of your favorite accounts to follow on Instagram?

Oh man, I’ve got so many! If I had to pick a few, I’m currently fascinated by the works of these amazing artists. They all seem to capture the human emotion and what means to be human in their own unique and multilayered ways but with a certain stillness and quietness that I find very calming.

Joe Greer @ioegreer

Haruna Kikuchi @haruna_kikuchi

Nadav Kander @nadavkander

Lina Scheynius @linascheynius

Alex Leese @alexleese

Where do you find inspiration for your photography?

I guess there is no one single source of inspiration for my photography. My creative process is like making a smoothie where I throw in a bit of the works of artists and photographers I admire, the constraints of my tools and the feelings I want to feel myself when I look back at my photographs.

I often let ideas incubate inside my head for a long time before I turn it into a project. But the main thing that inspires me to keep going is how photography to me is a journey of self-discovery. Every project unlayers and reveals something I didn’t know about myself. And I think having an intrinsic reason for photography is very important. It’ll keep you going even when you don’t receive external validation.

How would you describe your photographic style?

I personally don’t like to categorize my work into a “style” as my style is always evolving alongside me and my point of view. If I had to label my current style, I’d say it’s raw, vintage, and relaxed. I like capturing the fleeting feelings in between rehearsed poses and expressions. Hence, why I also don’t like doing a lot of post-processing (I don’t use Photoshop, mainly just Lightroom for color correction), because those feelings can’t be manufactured in the computer. Or maybe also because I’m lazy haha.

Nirish Shakya aka Nizzah is an award-winning portrait photographer currently based in London. He is very much into the raw, retro and relaxed vibes that he creates with his images. He is particularly interested in the natural fleeting feelings his subjects display in between poses and expressions.

To see more of his photography, you can check out his website nizzah.com or follow her work on Instagram @nizzah.