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A startup democracy: Picsdream for photographers by photographer What to do with all the beautiful photographs that we take?

By Akash Shukla

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Picsdream has brought a unique startup trend to fore. It not only aids to monetize a photographer's dream but uniquely underpins aesthetics—"Everyone's a photographer!'

With an organic dance-music rendition, Picsdream has emerged as a destination that celebrates creator in everyone. Founder and CEO Mahesh Nair elevated "Art love for art's sake' maxim when he spoke of "transcendental behavior', "fluidity of time' and photography as it has evolved from the "classical era' to the "selfie generation'.

The inception of the event began with a critical question: What to do with all the beautiful photographs that we take?

Since everybody has been clicking pictures for one reason or the other but knew absolutely nothing as to what to do with them, Picsdream emerged as the first community and a marketplace for photo selling.

The startup hits the cusp of the problem that ails the contemporary photographers. Countless amateur photographers do not go beyond the pedestals of "photo blogs' and "FB page' to showcase their work. Mahesh Nair, a photographer himself, thought of a startup that shaped the idea of monetizing a passion to incentivize it even further.

In an exclusive with The Entrepreneur, he cited examples of the likes of MF Hussain and spoke at length on how much they earn from one painting and then pondered on the idea of Hussain being a brand that attracted huge sums for his work.

On a similar note, Picsdream would facilitate this buy-sell process through web and app service for the aspiring photogs who wish to rake in moolah and at the same time creating brand value for self.

The dance-music drama Imago spoke of his vision in a way for photographers who love to click almost everything from abstract to extreme.

The founder spoke on the limited use of the unlimited scope in photography. While elaborating on the use by brands, he gave a "Diwali example'. Sweetshop owners use portrait images of a family to describe the festive joy of togetherness but then it is never used. Such pictures are rarely hung on the home walls because the images were captured for branding and they hold little value in real-life situations. Consequently, the pictures are rendered useless this way. A lot of pics this way are created but not utilized. Picsdream is a crucial need-of-the-hour startup because it would fetch value for the photographer's talent.

I'm pretty sure that photography must be the artwork in the moment and once the moment is gone, no matter how much you make an effort to restore the same smile or a flick of hair, every new click would be a new painting. No two frames are same just the way no two paintings are twins.

Enabling the photo evangelists and amateur photographers for monetizing their passion pursuit does seem like a dream that is shaping into a reality.

Akash Shukla

Former Sr. Features Writer, Entrepreneur India

With four years of journalistic and editorial experience from two leading English dailies, namely, The Pioneer and Hindustan Times, Akash dabbles in Applied Linguistics and mainstream journalism. His interests include book writing, travelogues, Gender Studies and Shaivism. The author is a senior features writer cum sub editor at 'Entrepreneur Online' and has a dual masters in journalism and English Language Teaching (ELT).

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