HYDERABAD: Younus Farhaan, a 27-year-old freelance photographer, has the happiest job in the world, to sit and watch clouds forming shapes. What started as an innocent childhood vocation, his curiosity has led him to make ‘cloud photography’ a full-time profession.
Ravindra Bharathi recently hosted no less than 60 photographs–all of differently shaped clouds at the exhibition titled ‘Fauna Fantasia.’ The most important part is that they all seem to say something to humans. “I started observing clouds in school and at the age of 17, I started capturing them with my 2MP phone camera.
Gradually, I started writing about the ‘messages’ they seem to be conveying. Each cloud, each shape has something to say: plant more trees, save nature, cherish the love of a mother and a lot more,” said Younus Farhaan. He has around 8,000 photographs, each one of a different cloud and each delivering a word.
He credits his parents and Dr Mamidi Harikrishna, Director of the Department of Language & Culture, Government of Telangana, for supporting his pursuit of free-flowing clouds.
“It was Dr Harikrishna who noticed my talent and offered me space to host an exhibition. My first one was in 2018. This time, even dignitaries like Gareth Wynn Owen, the British Deputy High Commissioner to Telangana & Andhra Pradesh visited the gallery and appreciated my work. I have received support from Dubai, the US and now London as well. I want to take my photographs to other states in the country and to the world,” said Farhaan.
The hope he has is both simple and courageous, as it is not simply the photographs of interestingly shaped clouds that drive him, but the belief that they all want to say something to humankind.
“Along with photographs, I also started making notes about them. I started writing about what these clouds might say to us, humans, who continue to indulge ourselves in selfish pursuits, destroying nature and ignoring the most beautiful aspects of life such as the love that all creatures share with each other,” he said.
While his clouds connect with all age groups, the most attention is paid by children. However, he says clouds have charmed all, poets and filmmakers alike. “I have dignitaries coming in and telling me that they have never seen anything like this,” he said.
Farhaan has clouds in all shapes and forms, animals and birds, mother and child, trees, and most importantly, the heart of Telangana photograph that he clicked in 2013. “It is almost like a prophecy for the formation of Telangana.
That way, I feel, clouds also tell us our future,” he said. “I felt the happiest when youngsters came to my exhibition and interpreted what clouds might be saying to them. Plant the trees or else there will be destruction. Support nature and protect animals. I have one Pterosaurus cloud as well. Pterosaurus was a flying dinosaur. It gives the message that the age of Pterosaurus has been extended. It is an interpretation of humankind destroying itself by causing harm to nature,” Farhaan concluded.