Unguarded moments

Till his college days, Hari Menon’s life was pretty much like anyone else’s. Despite his love for sketching, he was pushed into engineering. But  instead of studying machines and programs, Hari was obsessed with his lush green village near Kochi and its natural beauty. He wanted to do something so that pleasant memories stayed with him forever. Dropping out of college, he pursued his new-found love —  photography.   Eleven years on, Hari is a prominent travel photographer, boasting almost one million followers on his Facebook page. His photo series  including Hakuna Matata (series of Kenyan wildlife), Ladakh —  Valley of Dreams, Journey to Moksha, Theyyam, Colourful People, Monsoon Stories, Nepal Diaries, and more have wide acclaim amongst fans and experts.

However, he considers his latest work of capturing indigenous tribes of India to be  one of his best. “I love everything candid. As a travel photographer, my best clicks are  usually the ones which happen unplanned. When something or someone is captured candid, you get to see the truest form,” the 33-year-old opines,  adding, “My decision to move to Mumbai to pursue photography proved to be a boon as I understood a lot about street photography — if you’ve photographed Mumbai’s streets, you can capture any other city in the  world easily.”

Journey to Moksha

Colourful People

Speaking about his favourite works, he says,“so far, among the series I  have done, capturing indigenous tribes of our country is really close to my heart. For me, their expressions are very raw, very real — without any  pretention. I also learnt a lot of amazing things. I love the fact that the  Drokpa tribes, who are apparently the descendants of Alexander the Great,  have managed to retain their customs and tradition through all these  years. Then there is a tribe in Karnataka that sing songs spontaneously about things they see and experience — I was taken aback when they sang  about my photography!” 

Nepal Diaries

Nepal DiariesHe continues, “Another series, Theyyam — a popular ritual form of worship of North Malabar in Kerala — is also one of my favourites. People in these districts consider themselves gods. It is incredible to note that people who lead a normal life in the day, suddenly transform into a completely  different people (gods) at nights.” In the future, Hari aims to exhibit his works to a wider audience. “It is something which I have been planning to do since a long time. Photos have no end date. So, I want my works to live forever too!”