I’d known Anil Patel as my senior while working in a post-production studio in Mumbai. But that was not the only side. There were more and I explored them year after year.
I’d just begun my career, as a computer graphic artist, in 2000 and joined this studio. Anil was a quite senior person and to me, he was the lord of the business—he knew everything, from script to screen. I used to admire him.
One day, we got a chance to eat lunch together in our small canteen. We both had a tiffin-box from home. I offered him my food and we began talking about our childhood days. He was almost in tears to discuss this touching topic and almost cried narrating his childhood to me. He narrated about flying kites and catching them as they fell on the ground. The noise, running, chaos, the narration was so magical. I almost felt myself inside the description. It was a heart-touching moment that I can never forget.
Then, I changed the company and wasn’t in touch for many years. We weren’t in touch but he was always on my mind. I connected with as soon as I joined Facebook. I always knew that he had multiple talents but this talent of still photography wasn’t known to me. And he’d already become as maestro till the time I knew about the fact.
It’s the photographer, not the camera, that’s the instrument.
Although he’s on a top chair in a huge conglomerate, he finds time for his passion for photography and has founded 19th JF to pursue his passion and also teach the same. His pictures are uncanny, out of the world.
I’ve seen many photographs but his style is different. He does workshops regularly in and around Mumbai. If you’re thinking to learn photography, you should definitely catch hold of Anil in this lifetime. You can check some of his photographs by clicking here.
