S1 Ep2: Never Settle - Architecture Photography with Saurabh Suryan

Good For Construction

Introduction:

Suryan//Dang is a collaborative practice for visual storytelling through various available mediums. We are two hosting partners as Saurabh Suryan & Lokesh Dang, formed the practice to help architects photograph their works. We host a variety of works ranging from portraiture, landscape, documentary photography and filmmaking. Suryan studied B.Arch from Sushant School of art & architecture, Gurgaon and worked as an architect with many renowned firms across India before establishing the photography practice in Delhi. Dang studied PGD in Creative Photography from Sri Aurobindo Center for Arts and Communication and has been practising as a documentary photographer, for which he has won National Media Award. The duo has exhibited their works at various galleries across the nation.

Suryan//Dang’s work:

https://www.archdaily.com/photographer/suryan-dang

https://www.google.com/amp/s/hypebeast.com/2018/6/the-woodside-morphogenesis-india%3Famp%3D1

Connect with Saurabh: http://www.suryandang.com/

Time Stamps: Following are some highlights from the conversation

1:30 - (Saurabh) We are not a company. It’s like a cloud. People plug in and plug out.

2:30 - (Eesha) What is Suryan & Dang

3:24 - (Saurabh) We help architects and designers frame their vision.

4:43 - (Saurabh) It’s content versus what you are absorbing

5:51 - (Saurabh) You can’t define architecture with just a photograph.

6:04 - (Eesha) So, currently what are you doing?

8:10 - (Eesha) When did you get the idea of Suryan & Dang?

8:26 - (Saurabh) I don’t even own a camera!

8:32 - (Saurabh) I have known Lokesh for 15 years now.

10:05 - (Saurabh) I started doing engineering for a bit.

10:16 - (Saurabh) I saw a couple of kids carrying models in the college bus and I was carrying a tiffin box.

12:44 - (Saurabh) I would strike a barter with my classmates. I would models for the entire class.

13:40 - (Eesha) So, here you are making models for the entire class, how did you get into photography?

15:18 - (Saurabh) I started photographing on college trips

17:21 - (Saurabh) Out of frustration(with his job as a banker), Lokesh would drive the cab that would come to pick him up, just to do something different and he wanted some kind of physical liberation and then he chanced upon the camera.

18:32 - (Saurabh) Bijoy Jain(Studio Mumbai) was one of my most landmarks experiences.

23:14 - (Saurabh) It’s like taking a dump for your soul

23:29 - (Saurabh) Someone gave me this gyan that you have to do your GFCs for you to understand the grind to produce something

25:34 - (Saurabh) Then I applied to Sameep Padora

29:02 - (Saurabh) Getting to know Bombay as a city was the turning point

32:35 - (Saurabh) Lokesh was doing well (with his photography) on Instagram.

33:49 - (Saurabh) That was when we met at Mill Owner’s building [to photograph it]

34:53 - (Saurabh) We had 10-15,000 bucks and panned it across 40 days (traveling Rajasthan)

45:01 - (Saurabh) That was our first project

56:09 - (Saurabh) How do you make sure your name is not ruined?

59:12 - (Saurabh) You should do it right, but shouldn’t be killed by it.