Meet the People: J. Walter Thompson Kuwait’s Mitul Shah

Mitul Shah, a creative at J. Walter Thompson Kuwait, is a visual storyteller. His work was recently featured in National Geographic, and we sat down with him to know more about the man behind the photography.
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Q: How did you photograph get selected for National Geographic’s “Getting Your Shot”?
A: NatGeo has an excellent portal called yourshot.nationalgeographic.com where photographers of all calibres can post their images (I highly recommend this for any photographer).

They also have specific assignments where you can participate and their experts select the best 10 images. I participated in one such assignment called ‘Foodscapes’ and was lucky enough to be selected, which eventually led to the image being published in Your Shot Magazine.

Q: Tell us about the shot itself.
A: The image is about an Indian street vendor in Ahmedabad, Gujarat making early morning chai. This specific style of tea is made with milk, lots of sugar and spices. It’s boiled for a long time to absorb all flavors and then poured high from one vessel to another.

Q: What inspired you to get into photography?
A: 16 years ago, I got a disposable Kodak camera as a birthday gift. None of the pictures came out right, but I enjoyed taking pictures of interesting people, places and things. Now, I am still wandering around trying to capture that little aspect of someone’s life.

Q: What, in your opinion, are the ingredients for a memorable picture?
A: A memorable photograph needs to tell a story made up of many elements such as lighting, composition, character etc, which keeps you thinking about the story even when the picture is not in front of you. The following quote sums up a memorable photograph for me.

“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place. I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” – Elliott Erwitt

Q: Do you ever borrow lessons or talents from your photography hobby and use them when you’re doing your creative duties at J. Walter Thompson Kuwait?
A: Many times. The bases of both for me are the same; in photography you are trying to portray a vision and a story.

The same can be easily applied to our marketing communications discipline, whether that is a vision or story in print, TV or online.

Q: What do you like most about your role at J. Walter Thompson Kuwait? How does your role as a creative inform your photography?
A: That eureka moment when you know you have found a unique insight that drives something very special as an idea from which you crack the brief, an idea which is not just another ad, but something that helps the agency grow the client’s business effectively with a creative conversation.

One of the main advantages of being a creative who does street and documentary photography, is spontaneity – you train your brain to go where the story is.

Q: Who are some of your favorite photographers?
A: Elliott Erwitt, Nadav Kandar, Sebastião Salgado, Vivian Maier, Steve McCurry and the list goes on.

— For more of Mitul Shah’s photography, visit his Flickr page here.

— View more of his photographs in the gallery below.