Famous 5: Navin Sarma

Practically Famous / January 11, 2016 / 2.2k

Meet Navin Sarma. By day, he is a Client Executive at Hewlett Packard Enterprise here in Washington, DC. By night, (and any time of day he’s not in the office) he’s out capturing the beauty of our nation’s capital. Navin is one of those rare “lifers” born and bred in the DC area. He’s spent a lot of the last 10+ years traveling and capturing images outside of DC, but always enjoys coming home to photograph the beauties within the district. We were pleased to track down the man behind the lens and find out a bit more about him and his creative talent.

1. What inspires your photography?

Photography started as a way for me to document my travels in my early 20s. Over time, it became less about “documenting” experiences and more about “creating” images that help evoke the feelings I had while being out in the environment. I’m inspired most by feelings of wonder and appreciation of the natural world. In photographing DC, I attempt to showcase how our famously beautiful architecture interacts with the natural world. To me, it’s the best of both worlds — as I can show off my hometown city in, hopefully, a new light that I find inspiring.

2. What makes DC a unique city to capture on film?

DC’s landmarks are world famous. A mere glimpse of the Washington Monument is instantly recognizable to nearly everyone across the globe. This is an advantage, in that photography of DC can quickly become popular, and a challenge in that nearly every angle of DC has likely been captured by someone before.

The goal for me is to apply my own “lens” when shooting the city. I want someone to see my image and instantly know it’s mine, based on my style that showcases how DC’s monuments and architecture interact with the natural environment. DC is unique as most of its landmarks incorporate nature very well (e.g., the Tidal Basin that allows the Potomac River flow, the Washington Monument on a perch with an unadulterated view to the sky, the U.S. Capitol with its towering trees near the reflecting pool), which helps me achieve my vision.

3. What is your favorite spot to shoot in the city?

Hard to say… But I find the Tidal Basin to be a lot of fun to shoot. It’s water always adds an interesting element, either by reflections or texture in ripples, ducks or geese flying, feeding, and swimming, and the many landmarks including the MLK, Jefferson, and Washington Monuments. I do find the Washington Monument, as the most iconic and famous sights that instantly screams “DC” to viewers, a great subject to represent in many of my shots.

4. Are you working on any new projects?

I’m always working something new! I recently finished an architecturally focused set of images I captured at many of the monuments. This set was taken at wide angles to accentuate shape and make each image look abstract, but still recognizable to the knowing eye. I am also looking to incorporate some video into future work.

5. Obama calls and wants you to be his personal photographer for the day, but the agenda is totally up to you. What do you do?

The good thing about shooting DC is many of its landmarks are near each other. While it would be a packed day, I’d take him to each of the famous monuments. While many photographers are interested in capturing the hustle and bustle of the city and its people,I would take a more pensive approach, especially given he’s in his last year in office. I’d capture him admiring the sunrise over the Tidal Basin, looking up in reverence at the towering Lincoln, Jefferson, and MLK memorials, and walking through and observing the tombstones at Arlington Cemetery at sunset. As a landscape photographer, that would be a portrait session I would really enjoy doing.

Where can you find Navin’s work in person?

The Coupe DC: Solo exhibition now through May 30, 2016

Waverly Street Gallery: Invite-only group exhibition in February 2016