Virendra Sinha at his Jamshedpur residence. Picture by Srinivas

Click, click, click?the constant sound of the camera forms an integral part of Virendra Singh?s life. Meet Singh, a senior manager of projects, engineering and projects, Tata Steel, who worships the camera, but believes the man behind it is more important.

The camera became his best friend ever since he saw his grandfather click photographs as a kid.?I picked a passion for photography from my grandfather who was a photographer himself,? says Singh.

But his real association began when he went to Nagpur to pursue his engineering degree. A mechanical engineer by qualification, Virendra says: ?At the engineering college, I got a free hand to learn photography and developed negatives in a make shift dark room.? Thus, began his photographic journey, but Singh quickly points out: ?Nagpur surely taught me some things, but Tata Steel is the place where I learned about the aesthetics.?

His passion took shape when he joined Tata Steel as a graduate trainee and met his superior C.P. Dhawan. An acclaimed photographer himself, apart from being a well-known columnist for the Illustrated Weekly of India, he had casually asked Singh about his ?passions?. After knowing it, it was Dhawan who encouraged Singh to join the then Bihar Photographic Society. ?He also taught me a lot about pictorial photography. Whenever I went to him with my photographs, he not only criticised my work but also taught me the grammar and aesthetic sense of photography and having him as a teacher worked wonders for my leaning process,? adds Singh.

Hard work and love for lenses finally paid dividend. In 1986, for the first time, Singh received recognition at an international level. Although he had participated in various exhibitions, it was the international salon in Bhopal that gave his pictures an esteemed platform. From that day on there has been no looking back for this ace photographer.

In 1987 Singh was announced the top Indian photographer by the Federation of Indian Photographers (FIP). And this achievement credits him much more as he retained the title for nine consecutive years. And to add to that he has been a jury member for the monthly contest organised by FIP for the past 10 years.

Ask him his medium and he quickly points out: ?I prefer sending colour slides rather than huge prints as its more convenient and easy to store,? says Singh.

A master in pictorial photography Singh believes that one should let his imagination run wild as photography is not just about clicking on time. It involves a lot of thinking, a good amount of creative instincts and aesthetic sense to develop a single creation.

One wonders how the man managed a profession and a passion so successfully. Being at the helm of affairs meant a lot of responsibility and moreover photography is a time consuming art.

But for the committed Singh, his passion never took a back seat. ?Even today, my colleagues and I visit rural areas and indulge in our passions,? says Singh.

?For any photographer getting an international honour is the most prestigious as only people with certain amount of potential can get to these standards,? says Singh. And Singh has been twice lucky as far as these honour are concerned.

In 1994, Virendra Singh received an honour from the well-known Federation of Society followed by another honour from an International Photographic Association from its head office in Belgium. The icing on the cake was the fellowship that he received in January 2005 from FIP.

Today Singh is the proud owner of around 700-odd photographic acceptances in colour-slide category and over 180 awards and certificates from various organisations of repute from all over the world.

At present he is also a jury member to about 45 salons organised in India.

An artist in the true sense of the form, Singh says his photographs speak for themselves. In love with still-life photography it?s awe inspiring to see how Singh has used some basic homespun themes and family as ?models?.

?Who has the money to afford famous and professional models, so my wife and daughter did a lot of so called modelling for me,? smiles Singh whose one creation with his daughter at the famous Ajanta caves has been selected by an renowned magazine.

With such great expertise in photography, we would not have let him go just like that. So before leaving I decided to get some gyan on photography from the master craftsman. ?Always remember that winter is the best season for pictorial photography and a good cameraman should have minimum number of gadgets. That?s what I have learnt from my mentors and thats exactly what I tell anybody who comes to me,? said Singh.

?I feel I am still learning and I would love to get a digital camera as soon as possible. It?s brilliant how the young photographers take so many snaps without bothering about anything,? smiles the man who has created some timeless moments with just a click of his finger.

Nilanjana Ghosh Choudhury