From tour guide to a photographer: How Rangoli Lens came to life

If someone had told me a few years ago that I would one day have my own photography brand, I probably wouldn't have believed them. Not because I wasn't taking photos. I had actually been photographing for quite a long time. It just never occurred to me back then that it could one day become my job.

My journey into photography didn't actually start with photography. It started with travelling.

First came travelling

For several years, I worked as a tour guide in Asia. I guided groups in India, Nepal, Tibet, China and Sri Lanka.

What I loved about the job wasn't just the travelling itself. I loved the cultures, the people, the organising and everything that happens behind the scenes. Being a tour guide isn't just about standing next to a monument and telling a group about it. You're also often the person dealing with transport, accommodation, schedules, local contacts and problems that always seem to appear at exactly the wrong moment.

Suddenly, you're responsible for maybe twenty people, and for several weeks your job is to make sure everyone gets where they're supposed to go safely, sees something interesting, has a good experience and eventually makes it back home.

And that was something I really enjoyed.

I'm not a big fan of jobs where every day looks exactly the same. I need a bit of movement, change, new people and the freedom to do things my own way. Maybe I'm a little bit of everything. 😄 But that combination was exactly what I liked about being a tour guide.

Then came Covid.

And travelling, which had been such a big part of my life for several years, suddenly came to a stop.