The Canon EOS Youth Ambassador Programme is a first-of-its-kind programme in Malaysia, and is part of the camera company’s commitment to cultivate and nurture a new generation of young photographers and encourage photography amongst Malaysian youths – be it as a lifestyle, a hobby or a career to consider.

Barathan Amuthan, who hails from Penang, was named Youth Ambassador last year, following 6 months of intensive training and evaluation by Canon professionals. Growing up an MBS boy, Barathan pursued a Degree in Hairdressing with City and Guilds, UK. The September born, however, found himself a language in photography and decided to pursue the art form as a career.

Venturing into an art form takes not only a lot of courage but also the dedication to learn. For Barathan, the camera was a familiar since his schooling days. Finding a thrill in rekindling emotions through the memories attached to a photograph; Barathan began collecting what he refers to as ‘frozen moments’ in a memory card.

Wanting to create frames of art yet not having much prowess over a canvas, the camera became Barathan’s go to tool to bring his imagination to life. With experimenting being the core of his work process, Barathan shoots whatever that catches his eyes and sometimes finds a muse among the subjects he experiments with.

Being an avid music fan, Barathan makes it a point to carry a camera with him whenever he attends a concert. Having honed his skills, professionally, for over 10 years, Barathan began landing contracts as the official photographer for many concerts locally and sometimes abroad even. A.R.Rahman , Ilayaraaja , Kamal Hassan  , Rajnikanth ,S.P.Bala , Sid Sriram , Nicole David  and Rukmini Vijaykumar are among some of the famous names he has photographed.

Barathan believes that the main purpose of art is to give back to the community. Just like how songs and movies set the energy and thought process of a community, Barathan believes that photography gives back to society the same way. The impact of photographs extends beyond the artiste and spills over to their fans and followers by bringing to light their subconscious, helping the masses examine themselves and move towards betterment.

With that being said, Barathan enjoys composing street photographs that tell a story and portraits of women, as the end results tend to be soulful and has maximum creative expression, lending to his artistic persona. Barathan admits that his skills were not acquired overnight. Having read tons of photography books and magazines, Barathan also resorted to purchasing Internet tutorials and put practice time to hone his skills.

As a word of advice to aspiring photographers, Barathan says, “ Practice and experimenting are the pillars of photography. So keep practicing and don’t be afraid to experiment with new styles. If anything, it will help expand your creative perspective.”

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