There are people who need no introduction.
Danial Shah is one such person; he is one of the best travel and adventure
photographers of our country and certainly our favorite Pakistani photographer.
We invited him over to our studio for a shoot and had a long chat over a cup of tea with him.
We were inspired by the Guns and Roses track "Estranged ' and thus the objective of the shoot was to shoot
Danial outside of his customary environment. Studio strobes and suit sounds
more like a corporate executive’s photo shoot, but that was the way we shot
him. We meant to identify the irony of today’s culture and thus the explorer
Danial Shah was photographed like a corporate slave. The following are excerpts
from the discussion:
Q. What equipment do you use to shoot your
amazing images?
A. I use the following equipment:
Canon EOS 7D
Canon 10-22mm
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
Canon EF-S 18-135mm
Canon BG-E7 Battery Grip
Gorilla pod
Q. What is the importance of “the conquest of
the Self” to you?
A. Self exploration is highly important for
me and I am constantly engaged in it. I believe through self discovery one can
discover the Creator. Self exploration is done by me through extreme
experiences which make me feel “alive”.
Q.
What are your views regarding revolution and change?
A. I crave change and I don’t follow the
majority. I believe that we all have less time and we should focus on “living”.
Q.
Will you get bored of travelling?
A. No I won’t. But maybe I would do something
different later on.
Q.
What is the monetary aspect of your passion?
A. I do not do it for the money. I opt for a
harder way of life and I opt to earn from the path of life which I enjoy living.
Q.
What are your thoughts about Pakistan after you have traveled so extensively
in the country?
A. It has been a great experience travelling
Pakistan. I have seen amazing places and compared to some countries Pakistan is
much better in terms of travelling. I am proud of Pakistan’s history and
geography, but not its political scenario.
Q.
Would you consider moving abroad somewhere else?
A. Even if I do move abroad I would always want to come back. However, if there
is a unique opportunity I would definitely consider it, as long as it helps me
in developing myself.
Q.
Do you worry about the future?
A. Life cannot be predicted and I have faith
that whatever happens will be for the best.
Q.
What are your views regarding entrepreneurship?
A. I believe that job is akin to slavery,
thus I want to become an entrepreneur and create jobs for others.
Q.
What is your opinion about those who give up on their country?
A. I believe that those who run away are not
satisfied, but the current political scenario is forcing a lot of people to
move out and look for better lives elsewhere.
Q.
What is your opinion about the current generation?
A, I believe that the current generation has
various social pressures, due to which they are unable to progress.
Q.
Please tell us about your social media presence.
A. I am available on Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, Flickr and I also have the following websites:
www.danialshah.com
www.iexplorepakistan.com
Q.
What do use for post processing your images?
A. I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Adobe
Photoshop.
Q. I
understand you are an avid reader, what are your favorite books?
A. Currently I love Paulo
Coelho, Robin
Sharma, Salman
Rashid, Zavia by Ashfaq
Ahmed and Shahab Name by Qudratullah Shahab.
To visit the picture on facebook click here
To see another picture of Danial on facebook, which we took during a photowalk by Emaho magazine please click here
