A lake that runs blue, green, turquoise and beige

I shot a hundred and sixty photographs of this lake in the course of a 2-hour walk around Chandratal in July 2017. This one was the reason for the other 159. I don't see life through a camera lens. I use the camera like a pen or brush: to record what I see, what I am feeling and what I am thinking at particular moments in time. It is rare that I have a preconceived idea about what or how I will shoot. I live in the moment and like all other creative modes, photographs also come to life spontaneously as I live life. As I was walking around Chandratal, I was taking in the chill in the summer breeze, the warmth of the sun, the sparse greenery that had emerged after the snow melt a few months ago, the massive Himalayas around me … but always, the water was drawing me with its calm stillness, the gentle waves playfully venturing onto the many-layered beach. Yep this lake has a proper though slender beach. At times, the water was too dark, too light, the sky was dull or too bright, the mountains were … but when I shot this one I knew what I had been looking for: that moment when the light, the breeze, the level of water and my perspective were all aligned.