In this interview, Quirk spoke to Vinay Aravind (BA LLB Batch of 2004), a freelance writer and photographer based in Chennai, about the motivations and challenges involved in carving a fulfilling career that deviates from the conventional legal path.
The interview was conducted by Chiranth S (BA LLB Batch of 2025), Jitya Singh (BA LLB Batch of 2026) and V Sreedharan (BA LLB Batch of 2024) as part of our #AltCareers Series. The cover image is by Akshit Singla (BA LLB Batch of 2024).
Quirk: Was photography the first thing you came across after you left your law firm job? Did you try something else other than photography?
VA: Photography was not the first thing. It was not the second or third thing either. I had no idea that photography was something I would want to do. I didn't even know how to use a camera when I quit my job. I quit my job because I didn't want to work in a law firm anymore. I thought I’d figure out what I’ll do in a while. So I did a bunch of things - I did some freelance writing, I took on a research project and I even did a few lease deeds for people, small things, something to make a little money. Then I also happened to buy a camera, started messing around with it, and shot a friend's wedding. From there, I started getting some work. So that's basically how photography happened. Not like I would plot to become a photographer. It just sort of happened by chance.
Quirk: You said that you tried your hand at a lot of things and even when you had your first camera, you didn't know how to be a good photographer. At what point did you realize that you can make a career or a profession out of this?
VA: I sort of quit my job towards the end of December 2010 and I got my first paying photography gig in May the next year. And then by the latter part of 2011, it looked like, "Okay, maybe I can make a living from this." So maybe about 9-10 months after I quit my job, it looked like photography was something that could possibly pay the bills. So I thought, "Okay, I'll try this."
Quirk: As a follow-up, how would you identify yourself? Would you still consider yourself a wedding photographer first?
VA: Yeah, as long as the wedding photography is paying my bills more than anything else (laughs). I'm a wedding photographer first and foremost, but I want to do more writing. I enjoy writing and it's fun. And I'd like to do more of it. So in a sense, I'm like an aspiring writer. But currently, my bills are being paid by wedding photography. So I guess, mainly a wedding photographer. But I want to do more writing. And I hope I can do enough of that. It may not be my main vocation, but at least that can pay some other bills. That would be a nice situation.
Quirk: What specifically attracted you to wedding photography and not other sorts of photography?
VA: Because there's money (laughs). But I still enjoy going to weddings, meeting people, and taking pictures of people. And it turned out that I could go to weddings, take pictures of people, eat nice food, and get paid for it, which seems like a pretty nice deal.
Quirk: Since you switched from law to photography and both of them are different industries, did you, at least in the initial stage, find networking or making connections difficult? After your first gig as a wedding photographer, how difficult was it to build a completely new network or set of connections in that industry?
VA: I think one incredible thing was the NLS network. When I started doing photography, not just my friends, but random NLS people who I may have seen maybe once or had one conversation with, would refer to work, put me in touch with people, or tell people. So even though my legal education didn't really have anything to do with my work as a photographer, etc., the NLS network was invaluable in the early days, at least. Now not so much because I’ve spent some time in the industry. But in the early days, it was definitely very useful.
I was also very lucky, as I started doing this in 2011 when this industry was not so saturated. It was much easier to get going back then. If I was trying to do the same thing now, it would be much, much harder.
Quirk: You said that it's a bit difficult for someone to start now, as compared to earlier. Would there be some kind of advice you would give to someone who wants to start photography at this point in time?
VA: It's the same as starting any other freelance thing in that, you’ve got to really chase the work as much as possible. In the early days, do free work, cheap work - just do a lot of work. For anything in the early days, if you're gonna set yourself up as a freelancer, the bottom line is to do a lot of work. And if it means doing some free work, doing some cheap work, you just do it. Talk to a lot of people. It's a bit of a cliche, but what I told myself back then is to chase new people, new places, and new experiences.
Instinctively, I'm happy to stay in the same place and be with the same people. But you have to force yourself to go out, meet new people, and do new things. It's all about opening up doors. You never know where these doors are going to lead as a freelancer: where you might find work, or what might lead to something interesting, something lucrative. So if you're planning to set something up on your own, you’ve got to always chase: chase new people, chase new experiences, chase new places. And keep doing that again and again and again. So that's really the only way to make it. That applies back then and now. In general, it’s harder now, but the same rules apply.
Quirk: Did you find it to be a bit of a stark contrast to law school, unlike the law, where you have these paths laid out for you, and you just need to follow that, more or less, and in freelancing, that is not the case?
VA: Yeah, that's a fundamental difference between freelancing and a more traditional career. Those practices and those preset paths are useful, because if you have the inclination to take those paths, then you can take it and make money and be happy. But if none of those paths look that interesting, then you’ve got to try and do something a little different. This is not some high adventure, like, “OMG, it's so hard and so different.” But yeah, you’ve got to put in a little extra effort only because there's no template that you can follow and these days there are big photography outfits, where you can join as an intern or assistant.
But even now, I would say it's probably a pretty bad scene because they pay badly. But yeah, I mean it's the usual. In life, there’s always a trade-off. The set path has a lot of ease and a lack of friction. But if you want to do something on your own, you've got to push a little hard, try and sort of jimmy open a few opportunities, which are not obvious.
Quirk: We were also wondering what the initial reaction of your friends, your peers, and your family was, to your decision to switch from a law firm to photography.
VA: The initial reaction to the fact that I quit law for at least the six months that I was not a photographer was “How can you quit without a plan?” Everybody was supportive, of course, which was the best part. Even my parents were like, “Yeah, do whatever. You're gonna figure it out.” Then when I started doing photography, ninety-nine percent of the people were supportive. My parents initially thought it was a passing phase and that I'll probably go back to being a lawyer. And they used to ask, “But where's the intellectual challenge in this? You went to law school to become a lawyer, don’t you miss the intellectual challenge?” which is fair enough, it’s a legitimate question. By and large, everybody was very supportive and enthusiastic about it. There were actually some of my friends who also wanted to quit work but couldn’t. And like I said, the NLS network that day had really great people. I got the feeling that people really wanted me to make this work. They wanted to help, which was really nice. And I think that network will work similarly, even now. There are so many more NLS alumni now than there were ten years ago. So I think that kind of energy will still be there.
Quirk: We've had other alumni who've sort of been into photography and they've also come back to teaching law or their corporate careers. At what point would someone let's say in a law firm know that their passion or their interest is good enough to leave the law firm job and then pursue this hobby?
VA: I don't think there's anything like that, you know? Like there's no ready answer for when to quit. You quit and then you try your hand and see if it works. It may work if you're lucky. If you're not so lucky, it may not work so well. But it's worth a shot, right? If you try and it doesn't work out, you can at least go back and say “Okay, I gave it a shot, but that didn't work out.” And if you don't do it, you really regret it later on, especially people who have the financial cushion should give it a shot. I wouldn't recommend this to everybody. If you've got personal financial constraints, I wouldn't say “Quit your law firm job and follow your passion.” That may not be a sensible idea. But somebody in my position who had enough privilege to do it, why not? Even if it doesn't become a lasting career, we'll have some fun stories.
Quirk: Just a follow-up to this, because you mentioned that some of your friends were also saying “We want to quit, but we can't now,” do you think it's also to do with what people say that- the longer you stay in a law firm, the harder it is to quit? Is that also applicable to your case?
VA: I think more than being in a law firm a long time, it's got to do with their personal situation, that is - if they have a family, are married, or do they have loans, or obligations of any sort, etc. I was at the time single, and I didn't have any financial compulsions. So it was a lot easier for me to quit.
Otherwise, there is resistance to change, I think all of us have that. If you've spent five or ten years at a law firm, you're set in that groove and you don't want to get out. But that's not an actual barrier, that's more like a mental barrier. You don't want to uproot yourself from a comfortable setup. But that's easy to overcome if you want it badly enough. But it's much harder to overcome stuff like if you have EMIs, or if you've got to support other people. Then it gets tricky.
Quirk: Let's say someone's in law school, and over five years, they decide that they don't want to do law. Do you think it'll still be a good idea to maybe work in a law firm for a few years and get some experience or money out of it, like a safety net of sorts, before they quit and follow their passion?
VA: Ah, I don't know. Like, I don't think there are answers to these kinds of questions. I think all the paths can work. Go to a law firm, make some money, and do something else. You might know of an alum called John Daniel. We were in a band together in college, and he is a really good musician. He's a music teacher now, and never worked in a law firm. I don't think he ever was a lawyer if I remember. And he's doing really well, doing what he loves, teaching music, making music.
I used to refer to a Steve Jobs speech when I was psyching myself up to quit. It's a bit of a cliche, but he said, “You can't connect the dots looking forward.” You gotta just try out stuff, and see what happens. That's all really.
Quirk: Have you at any point, since you left a law firm, seriously considered going back?
VA: Never back to a law firm, definitely. But I feel like being some kind of lawyer - especially a litigating lawyer, somebody who's doing work that's meaningful like pro bono work or labor, where there's a desperate need for a lot more people doing that kind of work - I keep thinking. But I also keep thinking twelve years out of the law, I’m too rusty and probably useless. But if I ever do go back into the law, it could be to do something that's definitely not a corporate law job. But something more meaningful, something that can add something to society, not just help some corporate.
Quirk: You also write for websites like Newslaundry on topics varying from labor law to laptop reviews. How did you get into content creation?
VA: I always liked writing something or the other. I started writing for Newslaundry a long time ago and I’ve written about a bunch of random stuff. But when the pandemic hit and the wedding photography really dried up, things got really desperate. So I was like, “What do I do?” And I thought writing was something I could do. So then I pitched a couple of things. I pitched to Newslaundry to start doing a technology column for them, which I still do. I spoke to fiftytwo.in when they were just starting, about writing a long-form piece, which I really enjoyed doing. And I've written for MoneyControl as well. So I've written for a bunch of people. It was a way to make money when there was no money in the bank. So I tried it out. And I realized I really enjoyed doing it. And it's something I want to do more of maybe this year if it works.
Quirk: We wanted to know a bit about your process. How do you pick topics, and how is your workflow usually?
VA: The hard part is getting hold of a gadget from a brand. Like, there's no topic, but otherwise, yeah. When I was writing more generally, I'd sit down at a periodicity of two weeks. Recently, I wrote about the transition of cinema projection from film to digital. It is generally a technology topic that I'm really interested in and wasn't something that was much covered. So I thought I'd do a story about that. There's no process, it's like there are constantly some ideas in the head, which I'm sure all of you also have. We all keep thinking of some ideas, “I want to do this”, “I want to do that”. Ninety percent of the time nothing happens. But sometimes the idea and the opportunity, coexist at the same time. And then you end up creating something. Some of it is luck, some of it you have to make it happen. But mostly when the idea and the opportunity coincide, then it works.
Quirk: That piece “Reels” in FiftyTwo also won a RedInk Award under the Arts (Print) category last year. What was your reaction when you received the award for your publication?
VA: That was cool! I was really happy to get the award and I wasn’t expecting it. It was the publication that pushed me to nominate it. It's a nice award and I am hoping that maybe with that hopefully, I can get more writing work based on that. I also did the cinematography for a short film. That was in 2018-19. It was called ‘The Discreet Charm of the Savarnas’ and that was also quite well-received. That was fun to do, I really want to do more cinematography. But again, I need to get off my ass and look for work.
Quirk: As for “Reels”, you researched quite a bit into it, including interviewing several people across India. Do you think at some level, at least, research or anything else that you studied in law school has helped you?
VA: What law school and being in a law firm really taught me was the importance of assembling a coherent point. That's a valuable skill that I took from my life as a lawyer, and it's applied anywhere, even when I'm talking to you guys, you’ve got to be clear and coherent. You’ve got to set out something in a way that the person reading has no doubts about what is going on. And this was even more interesting when you were a lawyer, and you were to give a legal opinion on something. You know, that clarity was crucial. At some point, you've got to learn to communicate clearly and coherently and make things flow. And, it's really something that you assimilate in law school.
I don't know if legal research and this kind of stuff have much in common. Law is more books and reading. This is more about talking to people and stringing stories together. But yeah, this idea of pulling from disparate sources, putting it together to form some coherent narrative, I think that is something you learn from law school and while being a lawyer.
Quirk: Apart from your work front, if you were given a choice to maybe go back in time, would you still go to law school? Like maybe in retrospect, do you think going to law school was a good choice?
VA: Yeah, a hundred percent. And as I said, I’m still friends with many people from law school. And the people from law school have been like I said, a part of the process of trying to build a career from scratch. I got a lot of support. I mean, there's a lot wrong with law school but, I don't want to go into that. But personally, it was very valuable and beneficial for me. And I had a good time in law school. So I guess, yeah, I would probably go back… I'm trying to think, should I reconsider that [laughing].
Quirk: Do you think if you had realized your liking for photography earlier, you would maybe have gone to a photography school? Would you say if somebody realizes that they're passionate about photography or anything else for that matter, that they should continue being in law school or go to some other place, which can probably provide them more learning experience in that field?
VA: See, it's hard to tell someone to drop out, especially out of a really good college. I mean, I would never take the risk of advising that. I would say if you're in law school, finish it, and then figure it out. It's a good degree, it's up to you. You travel along with an interesting bunch of people. So I think it's worth it and photography is something you don't need to study. You can just get a camera, mess around and learn it by yourself while you're doing other stuff. So yeah, no. If they 100% absolutely want to do it then yeah sure, of course. But in general, I wouldn't advise anyone to drop out and do something else. I'd say yeah, probably not.
Quirk: What was the best part of your Law School experience? What did you like the most about it?
VA: Strawberry Fields. I used to organize Strawberry Fields. That's all I did. That was the best part. That's the only thing I was really enthusiastic about when I was there. And anything music related, as you know, we used to sing badly, but we used to sing, you know? Do all that stuff. Western Music Day that used to be there and all of that. All of the music stuff that used to happen. There was a band as well. That was also fun. Is there a band now in college?
Quirk: Yeah, yeah, there is, it's called 'Glorified Soundcheck'.
VA: Is it any good?
Quirk: It's actually pretty good and they also performed at SF last year.
VA: Oh, that's cool. I'm glad to hear that.
Quirk: SF was also nice last year.
VA: Yeah. I haven't come to SF in a long time. I really want to come and see what it's like these days. Back then, it was also very rare, because good music festivals were not a thing you know, like now there are so many fancy music festivals. Back then the only music festivals were stuff like SF or Saarang or Mood Indigo or whatever. We used to do a really good job, like, people used to tell us that we'd pulled off a better music festival than the IITs which had much more money. So yeah. So that was my favorite part of Law School.
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