Avanti is a Mumbai-based actor. The camera loves her.

Avanti is an actor based in Mumbail

From Punjab, Sarv is a theatre actor with an impressive range of emotions on display. I quite liked this one, it’s equal parts cheeky and mischievous.

He required only the slightest instruction.

Actor

Megha is a bhangra instructor in NYC of all places

She was easily the bubbliest subject I’ve ever had the pleasure of shooting.

Abhishek’s an excellent actor, really active in the theatre circuit.

I usually shoot against a white or grey background for headshots, but since Vikramjeet usually plays the villain, a darker mood and background were called for.

Originally from a village in Punjab, Vikramjeet is an actor now based in Mumbai. We'd met years ago when he'd first begun networking as a model and an actor, but somehow never created photographs together. We finally managed to do just that recently, and I'm really pleased with how some of these headshots have turned out.

Thierry Ballerin is a French actor and model who moved to Mumbai for a couple of years along with his partner. He contacted me as he needed fresh headshots and a new portfolio while he was looking for work in India. After a couple of meetings, we agreed on doing some headshots and a few portraits to add to his modelling portfolio. Working with actors and models means a headshot session moves quickly: one doesn't have to coax expressions out of them.

"Plain Jane" shots like this (or is that Plain John?) seem easy to create. However, headshots or portraits that capture a little bit of someone's soul aren't created without building a really good rapport with your subject. Sometimes, that process can take a while. With Thierry though, I think we'd finished his headshots within an hour.

Rohini and her partner Radhika provide animal-assisted therapy to the elderly and differently-abled. For more information about their wonderful work, go here.

Radhika runs a company that specialises in animal assisted therapy called Animal Angels. For more information about their wonderful work, go here.