The remote food photographer from Chennai

Sumanth Kumar’s lockdown business, Picture Palate, has him taking pictures for bloggers, chefs, and advertising firms across the globe

In April 2020, wellness consultant Ishani Vellodi Reddy, one of photographer Sumanth Kumar’s long-time clients, approached him with a unique assignment. “She wanted me to photograph a few dishes for her website and social media,” he says. While this might sound like any other photoshoot, what set it apart was the fact that Vellodi is now based in the UK and Kumar in Chennai. “She sent me reference images of her dishes, such as the five-ingredient tomato feta sauce, vegan chocolate truffles, and tahini maple overnight oats,” says Kumar, who could only source the bare minimum cutlery during lockdown and relied on YouTube videos to make the dishes himself. “I failed miserably,” he admits. “Only my recreation of the sauce was approved, and Ishani almost dropped me from the project.” So, Kumar — who quit a career as a news photographer in 2012 to take up freelance photography — went all out with the props and even got a chef to pitch in. “I bought all the cutlery and crockery I could lay my hands on at IKEA. My friend, Indrani Singh in Puducherry, dabbles in pottery and as she wasn’t getting a lot of work during the pandemic, I asked her to make stoneware plates, bowls and cups.” With experts on board, he gave the shoot a second chance — and it worked.