Ever thought a potato could make you laugh? Well, during this lockdown, it can. Head over the Instagram page of Ahmedabad-based photographer Brijesh Dhobi (@brijesh.dhobi) and you will see veggies getting their emoji freak on. Since he is unable to travel due to the lockdown, he is editing emojis onto photographs of smartly-arranged vegetables and fruits to depict hilarious scenes. This has garnered him a following on Instagram which is increasing every day.

So how did it begin? "When the lockdown began, I initially began experimenting with macro photography. But there was only so much I could do," says Brijesh. He then spotted a photo of an egg with a smiley face on Instagram. "I checked the comments and saw that it was created using the Photo Studio app (available on Google Play Store)," he adds. Curious, he wanted to try the built-in emojis in the app on more food items. He decided to use grapes and posted it on his page. "A lot of people began asking me how I did it and which software I use. The response prompted me to post more every day," he adds.

For instance, there's a photo depicting vegetables and fruits watching Prime Minister Modi's address to the nation, captioned 'Waiting for New Task' while another one shows a bunch of tomatoes on a plate, scared out of their wits as the slicer beckons. Other than fruits and vegetables, Brijesh also depicts hilarious scenes using stationery. "I was heavily inspired by Sean Charmatz, an animator, who has done a similar concept," says the 27-year-old.  

How does he do it exactly? "I think of a story or a scene and then arrange the vegetables according to that. I think about how they'd look if they were cartoons. In the tomato photo, I thought about how they will react if they knew they are about to be sliced. I have to usually take photos from a few different perspectives before zeroing in on one." Incidentally, he has shot the entire series with his phone camera. "I wanted wider shots and had to use to my phone's camera for that," he explains.

Brijesh Dhobi

Brijesh wasn't always a photographer though. It was only during his college days, when he was studying audio-visual journalism, that he started travelling and became interested in photography. Lucky for him, his full-time job as a cameraman for Doordarshan also takes him places — and while in lockdown, allows him to toy around with some mean veggies!