Portrait nominee

As an Indian I have rarely seen Indian artists tackle what could have been scenarios that may have come to pass had certain critical historical events never happened. I have always enjoyed history and often wonder of the many paths India could have taken had there not been constant in-fighting among kingdoms which resulted in the Mughal rule which eventually led to the British rule. I know that is a very simplified version of our long and rich history but for the purpose of brevity, I have kept it to a barebones cause and effect that led me to creating this project.

The images span generations and time periods taking place in an alternate timeline of the 15th century where, India is in the midst of its renaissance, influenced by the High Renaissance period that swept across Europe and then switches to an alternate timeline of the year 2020 where the influence of the Renaissance is still prevalent in fashion and presentation.

I am Shahzad Bhiwandiwala, a narrative and editorial photographer based in Mumbai, India and currently a student at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, USA. After a brief stint in the corporate world of Human Resources, I decided to make a career out of my passion for photography.

Ever since I was a boy, I have had a deep appreciation for the visual medium of story telling be it stills, theatre or movies. As I started creating my own stories, I chose photography as my medium to tell the stories that I conjured up in my head.

Through photography, I have met many like minded people who have helped me bring some of these stories to life. And I still have many more stories to tell. My photographic inspiration comes from my upbringing in a Zoroastrian household and the culture of India while being exposed to cinema and in extension the cultures of places which are depicted through cinema.