Photographer Richard Doodnauth is making great strides in the local industry despite having only started out in the profession just over a year ago. Richie, as he is often referred to, specializes in portrait and events photography. He does a bit of landscape photography as well.
The younger of two boys, Richie grew up at Herstelling with his family. He watched numerous Bollywood movies, imagining himself as the star and dreaming of the day he would become an actor. He was fascinated by the art of filmmaking including photography and videography even then, but while he had an eye for the colours that came into play, he never thought he would be the one behind the camera one day.
Richie had for years been dabbling in photography with the use of his phone whenever he visited a new destination somewhere in Guyana. Usually, he arrived at one of these places around the country from his customers. For the last eight years, he has been a taxi driver. Customer care is at the top of Richie’s list, whether as a photographer or taxi driver. Every time he spotted a nice place, he stopped his car, took out his phone and snapped a photo. He used an editing app on his phone to edit his photos. “I like interfering with colours and changing colours,” Richie said of his editing skills.
Prior to him taking up the art professionally, there was a photographer who used Richie’s taxi from time to time. The photographer, Sudesh Sewchand and Richie would have conversations and often Richie would talk about his love for photography while showing off some of the photos he had taken on his phone. Sewchand, he said, always encouraged him to take up photography if he loved doing it and Richie finally determined to make a career of his passion.
After a month and half of saving up his taxi earnings, Richie was able to purchase a Sony A72 camera. “When I got the camera, I was very excited. Having a camera is an investment. I had already known how to take photos and edit using my phone, but I still had to learn to use the camera and I also didn’t know what to do regarding getting work since I didn’t have any customers,” he said. “So, what I did was get friends to pose and did photoshoots for free then I posted that on my Facebook page. I was scared at first at the [feedback] I would get but once I put my photos on social media, people began calling. Now every week I’m caught up with a job. I didn’t think I’d make it in the industry, but my clients proved me wrong. They could have chosen another photographer who is in this business longer and who is more skilled, but they chose me instead.”
However, not every occasion went as planned. Richie confided that he will never forget one of the worst experiences he had when he had just started out in the business. This was last November when he was hired to take photos at a birthday party. Richie shared that at the time he had not yet learned that the lower the shutter speed, any slight movement would result in the photos being blurred. He added that while the colours were all nice, he was brokenhearted when he saw that a number of his photos were blurred. Richie said he was lucky to have understanding clients who said they knew such incidents could happen.
Despite this experience, his clients still hired him again. This is not an experience he wishes to repeat and added that after the first time, he decided to find out why it was that his pictures were blurry and once he knew why, he made sure it never happened again.
Richie draws inspirations from Guyanese photographers including Saajid Husani, Ian DeFreitas, Sudesh Sewchand, Keon Hector, Dwayne Jordan Photography and JPK Productions. “When I first saw Saajid’s work, I was impressed. I like how he manipulates colours. His work is amazing and stands out. Saajid is one of the best photographers in Guyana, if not the best. He is always welcoming to help me in photography. All of this… inspired me to become a photographer. Saajid trained me and taught me some of his editing styles. He always told me to make my work my own and it’ll stand out. He has spent countless hours helping me and for that I’m grateful,” Richie said.
In addition, Richie has also followed YouTube and Instagram tutorials done by Gill Mar and Peter McKinnon.
Photography, he said, provides numerous benefits, among which are getting to travel, meeting interesting people, trying different foods which is big on Richie’s list with him being a foodie and experiencing different cultural occasions.
Meanwhile his biggest disadvantage is his personality when it comes to his work. He is his biggest critic. Despite positive feedback from clients and photographers, he is always worried about whether he has done well enough as his main objective is satisfying his customers.
While for many COVID has posed a great challenge for work, Richie has used much of this time to sharpen his skills. He is still receiving bookings for photoshoots and said he and his clients are taking extra precautions and following COVID guidelines as best as they can.
He is currently looking forward to his first wedding, which is slated for October of this year. In fact, this couple was the first pair he shot proposal pictures with. The day of the proposal turned out to be a funny experience. Richie shared, “They booked me for a photoshoot. I had no idea the guy was going to propose. Turned out the proposal was a surprised to me also.” He laughed, adding that he likes to be prepared for such events. Nonetheless, Richie posited that he got some great shots.
“My plan for the future is to not only for Richie Doodnauth Photography to be thriving but to also have Richie Doodnauth Studios. I want to take my work to the highest level in whatever I do. I want to perfect my skills to be able to produce the best of anything my clients want. … I want to highlight our Guyanese talents as well as the beauty of Guyana. In my recent church trip to Lethem, I was inspired to capture more of Guyana’s beauty. I hope to get this started within a year from now. Currently I’m being trained by photographers/videographers Keon Hector and Dwayne Jordan. I see myself within the next ten years becoming one of the leading filmmaking productions locally and if possible, regionally as well. Guyana has been hidden for too long and it’s time now that we showcase our wonders to the world,” he said. Currently he has two ten-minute videos that he has posted to his YouTube channel.
Richie, an ardent Christian, attends the Fellowship Baptist Church in Tuschen. He is the youth leader there. He has a passion for helping youths and noted that he wants youngsters to know that once they have a vision, a plan and are determined to work hard, they will meet their goals. Richie Doodnauth Studios, he also said, he hopes will be instrumental in helping youths to follow their dreams.
“I would like to thank my parents for their support and encouragement to follow my dreams. I’m also grateful to my neighbour, Naresh Persaud, for showing me how to be successful in business as he’s a businessman and to my clients, I couldn’t have been here without you,” Richie acknowledged.
When he is not caught up with photography or driving, Richie spends his free time doing photo editing, watching movies. or hanging out with friends.
His favourite dish is boulanger choka and oil roti which he said only his mother can make for him, while adding that his father makes the best pepperoni pizza.
Richie can be followed on Facebook at Richie Doodnauth Photography, on Instagram @Richie_Doodnauth_Photography and on YouTube at Richie Doodnauth.
