Steni Simon By Express News Service KOCHI: “If you want to explore nature, you need to step out of your comfort zone. If you don’t, then your knowledge will stay limited,” says Rahana Habeeb, a wildlife photographer who recently held her solo exhibition ‘Beyond Frames’ in Kochi. About 50 rare images including monuments, animals and birds were displayed at the exhibition. Although Rahana was interested in art since childhood, it was after she quit her teaching job and moved to India from Saudi Arabia that she thought of exploring her passion. She started taking classes under artist BD Dethan. “Although I was more into realistic paintings, artist Dethan told me to create a niche in my style of art. That made me think about exploring photography. I started with a small camera and film rolls. Later when I felt the need to improve my skill, I started taking photography lessons,” says Rahana. Her enthusiasm got her till Sivans studio, an institute that is considered to be the best place to master photography. “I took a six months photography course under Sivan. He used to show me films of famous filmmakers and I had to make reviews at the end. The review included the composition of each frame and the type of cameras used. Throughout the course, I never clicked a frame. But instead, it was more about understanding how it is done,” says Rahana. It was a report about photography workshop by conservation wildlife photographer Balan Madhavan that inspired her further. “I bought a Canon camera for myself and the first thing I captured was the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve. Later, I started capturing the everyday life of the city as instructed by my mentor. This helped me further develop my skills,” said Rahana. “Not many women have attempted wildlife photography. In the beginning, I used to travel with groups. Later, I started going on solo trips and capturing rare pictures of animals,” she says. Rare snow leopard to rofus-necked hornbill found in West Bengal, Rahana has quite a few wild frames to her credit. Rahana is planning to bring out a coffee table book soon.

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