A Civil Servant, He’s also a Photographer Par Excellence

“Pictures are first made in one’s mind, and this affects your composition with a camera,” says DM Jhansi, Andra Vamsi. He balances between his work and passion for photography. He loves exploring new places and learning more about them.

Having a hobby can be different from having a passion for something. One can have multiple hobbies but only a few – and often a single- passion. And if you are passionate enough about it, you can take out time to pursue it, even after being in the most strenuous surrounding or job.

Such is the case with the District Magistrate of Jhansi, Mr. Andra Vamsi who manages to take out time for pursuing his passion for photography even after being a top-notch civil servant.

In an exclusive conversation with Indian Masterminds, the officer talks about his love for photography and how he discovered it.

DISCOVERING THE TALENT

While preparing for his civil services examination, Mr. Vamsi got a chance to learn about India in detail. Through this, he became well-equipped with the knowledge of geography, history, and the climatic conditions of different regions of the country.

“It gave me a creative image of the places that I was going to visit. It all started with a small camera, during my college days. After getting employed, I switched to a low-definition camera, from my savings. I found that The more you click, the more you enhance your photography skills,” Mr. Vamsi told Indian Masterminds.

He believes that pictures are first made in one’s mind and the composition is defined by the person himself.

ENHANCING HIS SKILLS

After about 10 years of clicking photographs, Mr. Vamsi decided to switch up to better quality equipment, and thereby enhance his skills further.

“I wanted to get high-resolution pictures and use more light in my photographs. I loved clicking pictures in the blue hour (late evening/early morning hours) as the pictures turn out beautiful and carry multiple colors, which makes it more appealing,” he told Indian Masterminds.

He enjoys clicking photos in the blue hour

Mr. Vamsi talked about the different categories of photographers, further explaining the varied kinds of photographs that they click.

“There are Nikon people and then there are Canon ones (and also who go in for Fuji, Pentax, and Sony). Another category of photographers includes wildlife photographers and landscape photographers. The landscape contains both the geographical and historical parts of a picture. Furthermore, a lot of things depend upon the weather and the haze in the atmosphere, as well,” stated the officer.

The officer depicting the beauty of flowers through his camera

“TRAVELING IS MY HOBBY”

While he was discovering and enhancing his photography skills, the IAS officer adopted a new hobby in the flow – traveling. The more he travels, the more chances he gets to explore and further capture them in his memory forever.

“I like gaining knowledge about the geography, history, political sector, culture, cuisine, and sociological aspects of a place. There is too much to explore in this country! Traveling and photography give me ample ways to explore new places, learn more about them and refine my personality,” he told Indian Masterminds.

Capturing the essence of ‘Holy city’ – Varanasi

BALANCING BETWEEN WORK AND PASSION

Being the District Magistrate of Jhansi, Mr. Vamsi hardly gets any time to dwell around and click pictures. But he believes that to pursue a passion, one has to take out time from whatever little free moments he gets.

“Whenever I go to the countryside for inspection or work, I use whatever free time that I get to explore around and click photographs. Weekends and holidays also help, when I can line up my activities in such a way that I get the time to go to nearby locations and capture memories,” he added.

The officer knows how to create a perfect balance between his work and passion, in a way that none of the aspects hampers the other. This is the true quality of a successful civil servant and an artist.