‘Photography is about instinct and being spontaneous’: Portrait photographer Shikha Khanna

A mother herself, portrait and ba photographer Shikha Khanna — who has exclusively worked with mothers throughout her professional journey — decided to make the voices of 100 mothers, who have created a niche in their respective fields, heard in an artic way. This resolve has now taken the shape of a coffee table book — 100 Self Portrait, 100 Dreams — which, she says, was born of the need for a mother to be “honoured for her selfless effort.” “This thought led me to conduct 100 interviews with mothers from all walks of life,” Khanna who specialises in ba, child, and family photography, told .

Khanna, who also helms MUM or Mothers United Moment, “an initiative to honour the living stories of mothers and make an impact”, aims to inspire mothers to dream again. As part of the same, she is organising an event, from November 10-14, 2022 at the Oxford Golf Resort, Pune, where 100 notable mothers will attend as chief delegates from across 31 countries. Her book will be launched on the last day of the event.
In an exclusive chat, Khanna, who started at the age of 19, describes her journey, talks about what photography means to her, and also the making of the book.
Tell us about your journey, and your work.
I have captured special moments of over 1,000 prominent families from across India. I love black and white and also work with natural light. I believe every human being has an inner light, and my endeavour is to bring that to the surface. I am also very passionate about teaching photography, and have conducted classes and courses. I launched a self-portrait photography workshop in 2020 as a tool of transformation and have conducted 10 workshops online, and trained over 50 international participants.
A glimpse of Shikha’s book (Source: PR Handout)
What does photography mean to you?
It is the tool that shows me the beauty that I would have missed otherwise. For me, photography is about instinct and being spontaneous. It allows me to connect with my subject intuitively and capture their lives. Like I mention, the inner light reflects when you are comfortable and in sync with yourself. I facilitate that. Formal education definitely helps in understanding technical aspects, angles and importance of speed etc. I feel equipment scares people. The feel and the texture of natural light is very difficult to replicate in the studio. Natural light mastery is also an opportunity to move to different places and take up the challenge in each space. I personally would get very bored in a studio and it not as exciting for me.
I would love to say that a person holding a camera is blessed to be aware of the life. Photography makes us sensitive towards the visuals around us. One should use photography to get closer to the life and the light.
Take us through your book.
This book covers Air Force officers, LBGTQ activs, coaches, Olympian, a photographer, doctors, and musicians — whose stories I stitched together along with their self-portraits that represented their identities as mothers. What makes this book different is that it is in its raw most; mothers captured themselves the way they see the self – not from any societal, biased lens.

How did you choose these mothers?
It started with mothers I knew and had inspired me, and through them I began to form a tribe of more mothers. Each story is equally inspiring and every struggle is an inspiration. It was a tough choice, I selected 100 unique compelling stories that I felt had the power to inspire people to overcome the odds and be victorious.
What is the main idea behind working on the book?
I want for these 100 mums and their families to recognise that their stories matter and, then I want for that one mother who is toiling in the dark of the night when everyone is asleep, wondering why motherhood is tough to get inspired these 100 mothers. With this book I want all mothers to feel that if these mothers can do it, so can I. I would want and wish for the mother entrepreneurs to make it a mission to support, inspire and empower at least one mother in their life time.

Any favourite memories from the making of the book?
My favourite story is that of Sangeeta’s, India’s first woman Air Force Officer who took her child to Ladakh on border patrolling when she was two years. She guarded our borders while doing her duties and all these while raising her child in extreme conditions.
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