Bangalore photographer Sudha Chandani Khatri takes empowering portraits of everyday women that have inspired many of them to become entrepreneurs. She recently spoke with host Nikki Closser on The Portrait System Podcast about how a gap in her schedule led her to begin photographing her neighbors, and how her inspired approach has transformed their lives. 

Sudha’s home of cosmopolitan Bangalore, with its many tech giants and global population, is known as the Silicon Valley of India. Sudha has made it her home for many years, and worked as both an engineer and wedding photographer for a decade before deciding that it was time to choose one career over the other. She decided on wedding photography and left engineering behind. Since it was still a few months before the wedding season, Sudha embarked on a project of photographing her neighbors, many of whom were already fans of her work. She put out a call on Facebook and began by booking in 20 of her neighbors for photo sessions.  

At that time, Sudha had never done a studio portrait session like this. In fact, this genre is not at all common in India. While the wedding industry booms, and maternity and family shoots are popular, typically only actresses and celebrities get glamour portraits. Sudha prepared herself by digging deep into the The Portrait System educational library and challenged herself to a daily 6 pm portrait session and to daily postings on social media. Sudha was so pleased with the results, as were her clients, that she never got into full-time wedding photography as planned. Instead, she now primarily shoots empowering portraits for everyday women. 

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Sudha says the secret to her success is in her approach. Many of her clients are mothers, who selflessly put their own lives in the background in order to take care of their families. Sudha says she wants her photographs to help a woman see herself as a goddess and “to let the people around her know who she really is.” Sudha says, “when I capture a portrait, and when I post [on social media], I want to introduce that person to the whole world. But more than that, I want that woman to be introduced to the family again.” She wants daughters to see the posts and say to their mothers, “I’m proud of you.” 

Sudha’s intention has been carried through in her portraits, and many of her clients come from people in the community who notice the change in a woman whose portrait has been taken. They come to her wanting to have that same experience. To remove any pressure, Sudha charges no session fee — only a deposit — she requires hair and makeup, and she styles the entire shoot, making it according to her own vision of how she wants the woman to manifest like a goddess. She has no minimum purchase amount or packages but sells each image individually for about $100 with an average sale of $2,000.  

To learn more about Sudha and her empowering portraits visit Sudha & Mukesh. 

The Portrait System Podcast helps portrait photographers navigate the world of photography, business, money, and much more. Hosted by Nikki Closser, the podcast is powered by The Portrait System, a comprehensive, online educational platform that teaches all aspects of running a successful portrait photography studio. If you’d like to be a guest on The Portrait System Podcast, send them a voice message. 

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