When you look at a cloud, what do you see? Our lack of telepathic powers is going to keep us from answering that question, but having peeked into the workings of Younus Farhaan’s mind, we know what he sees. He sees different things at different times. Sometimes, the ICC World Cup trophy, other times, a lion. Since 2009, he has photographed 4,000 clouds and each picture has a separate story to tell.
But nowadays, the 26-year-old has been in the news for other reasons as well. Thanks to his knack for sourcing old photographs, last month, he discovered the missing Nandi sculpture from one of the pillars at Devarakonda Fort and found it at Panagal Museum in Nalgonda. "When I compared the pictures and found it, the villagers, who earlier had seen the sculpture and were in despair about it going missing, were really happy that it is safe," shares the youngster. Indeed, India has lost so many such cultural gems to time and external forces that losing another one would have been a shame. But this is not all, this youngster has been promoting the fort, which is a 12-13th century structure built by the Yelamas, for a long time now and is more than happy to be working for it in this way.
Getting back to Younus' cloud photography skills, would you believe that Mamidi Harikrishna Garu, Director of Department of Language and Culture, Government of Telangana, noticed the youngster's pictures on Facebook and approached him to hold a photo exhibition at ICCR Art Gallery in Ravindra Bharathi auditorium? This happened back in 2018 and continues to remain the shiniest jewel in his crown. But this doesn't mean he is falling back on past glories. The Hyderabad-based youngster is already on to the task of conducting exhibitions in Delhi and Dubai as well.
"I started with a two megapixel phone camera and was never really interested in portraits. It was always about the environment for me," says Younus. So what has he upgraded to now? Redmi Pro (there are lots of versions of this 9 Pro, 8 Pro) apparently. Oh, yes! "Many are shocked when I tell them I use a phone camera, but for me it's not about the camera, it's about the eye," he says wisely.
It's all about perception when it comes to seeing shapes in clouds. Sometimes, it's complex messages that the cloud seems to deliver just for him, like during a particular instance when he interpreted a shape-shifting cloud as a man smoking and the smoke slowly turns into a lion and then a skeleton, making the message of 'Smoking Kills' loud and clear. Other times, the messages are simple like about the importance of planting trees or even other humanity-oriented messages. But they are always there, waiting to be deciphered by the youngster who calls Osmania University his alma mater. Also, he freelances as a photographer and a documentary filmmaker as well.
One of the biggest validations for Younus comes when people use his pictures as their profile photos. What else could a photographer ask for?
The various kinds of clouds
- Cumulus: They are puffy to look at and have flat bases
- Cirrus: These are more thin and wispy, like a coiled lock of hair
- Stratus: These low-level dotted clouds form a uniform layer
- Nimbus: Rain or snow-bearing clouds that are dark in colour
For more on him check out twitter.com/YounusFarhaan
