- Profile - "Capturing the Soul of Places" -- Pradeep Pande

Celebrating 4th Anniversary..........

- Profile -

"Capturing the Soul of Places"

Pradeep Pande

Pradeep Pande was born in 1961 on 18 day of October in the picturesque surroundings of Someshwar Valley of District Almora (Uttarakhand, India). Therefore interaction with nature was quite spontaneous for him. He used to follow his mother to the farm fields and to the forests where she used to go to fetch fodder and firewood. All this made him love nature. Later he had to shift to Nainital for his education where his father worked.  He completed his elementary to higher education in this beautiful town. This furthered his fascination for nature, although his love for photography had started during his childhood days but at that time having a camera was a distant dream for him. As time went by, the works of various photographers published in magazines and books made the urge to click uncontrollable, and he had his first camera –a Pentax K 1000. When the photography made a quantum jump from analogue to digital age, he too followed the suit. His close companionship with noted photographer and naturalist, Mr. Anup Sah made him learn the nitty-gritty of photography. This boosted his zest and he determined to proceed in search of excellence. He is a keen trekker and has been to many places in the Himalayas. He aims at capturing the soul of a place. While doing so he gives equal importance to the people and their life of a particular region. This does not mean he abstains from other genres of photography; he lays hands on wild life, nature and still life as well. Photography for him is a way of depicting nature and people in a way which should generate feelings of hope, nostalgia, pleasure, sympathy and love. He has a number of reputed awards and recognitions to his credit. His beautiful photographs have taken place in reputed publications.

Pradeep Pande is a banker by profession and works as senior manager in Uttarakhand Gramin Bank at Nanital.

--Dr. Pankaj Sharma