ASU Student Life editor’s picks: Best of Venu Gopinath Nukavarapu

Hi, my name is Venu. I just graduated from ASU with a Master of Science degree in computer engineering from the Ira A. Fulton schools of Engineering. I have been working with ASU Student Life as a photographer since March 2019. This has had a tremendous influence on my student experience.

Photography has always been a passion. I see photography as telling stories, where every picture tells us a story. Photography is about exploring different things, meeting different people and having fun while taking some pictures. 

Since my time as a Sun Devil is coming to a close, I wanted to share some of my favorite photoshoots at ASU.

One of my most memorable photoshoots is my first assignment, the Sotra fashion walk. It was an event organized by Sun Devils who started a modest, affordable fashion line. The way they organized the event, It was amazing to see all the men and women walking along the ramp created in the middle of Sun Devil Marketplace. I ended up with some good shots.

Abstract shots and candid shots are some of my favorites to shoot. Looking for candids at a game is very challenging, as people are constantly in motion, and no one is trying to pose for a photo when they are playing, which makes it more fun. 

The one shoot that I had the most fun with is the one where we were capturing some photos for Digital Creative Studio. It was the one event where I only had the ASU Student Life team as subjects to get some shots. It was fun spending time with our team, cracking jokes and funny poses for photos, but we ended up with some good shots.

Jhankaar is the largest Indian event at ASU, celebrating Indian culture with some fun events, shows, drama, dancing and much more. It was fascinating to see the event being hosted on such a scale at Gammage. I enjoyed capturing candids and some stage shots at Jhankaar.