Meet Ashutosh Gangwar of AG Photowerks in South East Valley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashutosh Gangwar.

Ashutosh, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My story, well…. For that we will have to travel back in time and to a different country, the one where I was born and grew up, India. Photography has been my passion since I was a kid, I think I inherited it from my parents. You see, my mother has a Master’s degree in Arts and my father, though he has a Master’s degree in Physics, always use to take photographs whenever we went for family vacations. So, I also started doing photography along with him and became the budding photographer of the family. I still remember the Yashica film camera we had. Years passed, I turned into a teenager from a child and the Yashica camera turned into a Nikon film SLR. The passion for photography just kept on increasing, there was immense pleasure in capturing the beautiful moments of life.

Time passed, I went to college, learned Computer Science and became a Computer Engineer. I got a job at IBM, and a new phase started in life. In 2003, I came to the USA for a work assignment. It was then in Minneapolis, I bought my first digital camera, SONY DSC-T1. It was a small point and shoot camera, but it opened the big doors of digital photography for me. Minnesota is a beautiful state, the land of 10,000 lakes, the perfect place to start my journey of digital photography. In 2004, I moved from Minnesota to Connecticut. Northeastern USA is filled with unlimited natural beauty. I immersed myself in capturing beautiful landscapes and cityscapes from the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Washington, DC, etc.

In 2006, I moved back from the world of point and shoot camera, to SLR, but this time it was a digital one, Nikon D70s. I wanted to sharpen my skill set, I was diving deeper to understand the tool of capturing light. Learning what setting to use, how to use and when to use. Learning is easy, but remember to use all what I learned, when the moment came, was quite a different game. It was difficult, but I was happy, I was moving ahead of just shooting in auto mode and going beyond the composition of the shots. It took practice and determination, but I eventually succeeded.

Sometimes, we come across a time in our lives, when our passion becomes more than a passion, it becomes our savior, our escape from the reality. That happened with me in 2007, when I was going through my divorce. I lost myself in photography. The moment when I was taking a photograph, there was nothing else happening in my life, it was just me, my camera and my subject, all away from the difficult reality of my life. I can as well say, the next chapter of my photography had begun. I was reading a lot of books on photography, online tutorials, and learning new photography techniques.

After my divorce, I found a new life in photography. I joined many photography meetup groups in Phoenix. I learned a lot from fellow photographers and was amazed by the vast variety of terrain our amazing state Arizona has to offer. At that time, I found something new in photography, something which I have never tried before, Night photography. At the same time, the world was also getting introduced to a new kind of camera, the mirrorless ones. So, along with my beloved SONY NEX7, some real nice Leica and Zeiss lenses and a tripod began the next phase of my photography. People loved my unique art of night photography and it got tremendously positive feedback from my fellow photographers.

By 2012, my art was being appreciated a lot by many of my fellow photographers and friends. I was being asked if I do it commercially. So, that gave birth to my photography business and I opened AG Photowerks. I love to infuse life in inanimate objects using my photography, so I had clients who hired me for advertising, real estate, architecture, and interior design photography. I also had clients who hired me for doing portrait, engagement and wedding sessions.

In 2013, I was blessed to have a photography exhibition on the ‘Four Elements of Life’, along with a couple of other photographers, in Downtown Phoenix.

Since then, my photographs have been featured across multiple media outlets like Arizona Highways, Chandler Lifestyle, and VoyageLA magazines; multiple news channels like 12 News & CBS 5; and 500px.com. In 2013, people voted my photograph of the fall colors at Lockett Meadow, Flagstaff, as the best photograph at Arizona Highways Earth Day Photo Challenge. I also found out that some of my photographs were being used by a commercial website, without my permission, but instead of asking them to take them down, I let them be there, maybe it made me happy that they loved the way I captured the natural beauty of our Arizona state.

My recent work includes photographing Chandler International Film Festival 2019, Phoenix Fashion Week 2019 – leading fashion industry event in Southwest USA, DB Phoenix 2019 – Luxury Bridal Expo and Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships 2019. I also had the honor to become part of an Indian Feature Film by photographing their EPK (Electronic Press Kit) & BTS (behind the scenes) photographs. I was recently appointed the official Photographer of the Chandler International Film Festival, which I will be covering in January 2020.

2019 has been a remarkable year for my photography. My art was recognized and shared by International Celebrity Fashion Designers like Rocky Gathercole (AvantGarde Hollywood Celebrity Fashion Designer), Neeta Lulla (Indian National Award-winning Fashion Designer and fashion stylist whose work has been part of more than 375 Bollywood movies) and Rohit Verma (Artistic Contemporary Indian Fashion Designer).

To all the budding artists out there, keep practicing your passion and we together will make this world a more beautiful place.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Photography as a passion is quite different from Photography as a business. Photography business involves only around 10% photography and the rest 90% is all about running the business. I have been learning business skill sets and also from my mistakes.

I once was asked to fly to Los Angeles to photograph some rolling shots for a car review, which was being published in a national magazine. Now, rolling shots require quite a fast camera, so I sold two of my high pixel count cameras, which were more oriented towards portraits, fashion, and landscapes to buy the flagship camera for sports/action photography, but the assignment fell through just a day before the day it was supposed to happen. I was disappointed, but that’s life, sometimes things don’t work out and we have to move on. I will be always thankful to the Almighty who has blessed me for where I am today.

Please tell us about your business.
My business’ name is AGPhotowerks. I now specialize in Fashion, Event, Commercial & Advertising photography. I am known for delivering crisp, colorful and dynamic photographs. As a company, I am proud of delivering an impeccable product to my clients, which brings a big smile to their faces.

As per the words of International Celebrity Fashion Designer Rocky Gathercole “You have a very keen eye for details”. I think that’s what sets me apart from other photographers. It is the right combination of my left brain and right brain, which adds up my engineering analytical skills, to my artistic vision, resulting in the creation of my photographic art.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
It’s going to be an odd answer, but I think my divorce would take the biggest credit for my success. It was a blessing in disguise for my art. I will like to thank my parents, my sister and my close friends for their unconditional support for my passion. My fellow photographers, who always supported me and also challenged me at the same time to become better, also played a big role in my success. I will also like to say a big thanks to my Fiancée, my Lady Luck, who made 2019 as the most incredible year for my photography.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.AGPhotowerks.com
• Phone: 4802087722
• Email: ag@agphotowerks.com

Image Credit:
Ashutosh Gangwar (AG Photowerks)

Suggest a story: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.