Vas Chakra’s journey from aviation to photography

A finalist in last year’s Australian Photography Awards, Vas Chakra is building a career that’s focused on community and the social issues that move her.

After studying a double Bachelor’s degree in business and technology, specialising in aviation, Vas worked in project management in aviation construction as well as in hospitality for around seven years.

Throughout this time, photography was just a hobby of hers.

Eventually, she felt it was time for a change. She took a hiatus to help her decide what to do next and spent two years travelling with a camera in hand, taking photos every single day. This confirmed to her that she wanted to turn her passion for photography into a career.

“Photography was always around, but I never saw it as something that I could study or have a career in until I found PSC,” Vas told Southbank News.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Photography at PSC last year, Vas has been concentrating on setting up her freelance photography business. So far, her work has primarily focused on assisting photographers in the commercial, fashion and advertising spaces. She’s also worked on film sets, helping shoot behind-the-scenes photos that pull back the curtain on moviemaking. 

In her commercial work, she hopes to showcase Melbourne’s subcultures. 

“I’m finding more and more that I want to work with people in the sort of communities that I’m part of, and the different subcultures in Melbourne, and sort of just showcase what everyone’s doing,” she said. 

Photography is a great opportunity for me to not only engage and be a part of the community, but also to collaborate with others.

“My artistic practice is quite different to my commercial work. My artistic practice focuses on more social impact issues.”

Vas’ previous bodies of work have examined a range of social and environmental issues, including the taboo of menstruation, urban reforestations, food waste in the urban environment and psychedelic psychotherapy.

“I tend to find things that I’m interested in and want to learn more about, and then, through researching, I create a body of work.”

Her studies at PSC provided her with a more technical lens as a photographer, particularly in relation to how to curate a body of work. Most importantly, though, she says the degree built her confidence. 

“You get to be in an environment where you can practise and make mistakes and learn from them.”

Looking to the future, Vas hopes to hold onto the joy that photography brings. 

“It is an opportunity to have an outlet for my creativity, or to be able to share how I see the world,” she said. 

“I find a lot of joy in being able to capture a moment of someone and then share that with them and for them to really enjoy that image, or to be happy. Not a lot of people are happy with photos of themselves. So, it’s nice when you’ve taken a photo of someone, and they really like it.” •