A 34-year-old Indian photographer’s income has grown over 42 times in 15 years — thanks to big, fat Indian weddings

• In an interview with Business Insider India, Luv Isrrani, an Indian celebrity wedding photographer, says people still don't respect the profession.
  
• A wedding photo shoot can cost anywhere between ₹15,000 and ₹100,000 per day.
  
• Compare that to the median salary for employees in the two highest paying industry in India — Power and IT — is ₹1,45,833 a month. While the per capita income for all Indians is ₹10,534 a month.

Indian brides and grooms are wackier and experimenting with wedding looks, like floating in a pit and other ways in a bid to stay different.

Others who are not as imaginative are opting to turn their special day picture perfect. It hence comes as no surprise that wedding photography is a thriving business in a $50 billion wedding market, according to Vogue India.

Luv Isrrani, who shot the wedding of Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh's wedding, says that the business has changed for the better.

When he started working 15 years back, he charged ₹3500 to shoot an entire portfolio. Today, he charges ₹150,000 a day, and that is a whopping 4,200% increase.

It also compared well to the median salary for employees in the two highest paying industries in India — energy and IT — is ₹1,45,833 a month. While the per capita income for all Indians is ₹10,534 a month.

The driving factor
Most photographers in India do not earn anywhere close to Luv. The difference between Luv and other cameramen is his focus on weddings, which is big business in India, especially the ones involving celebrities.

Every wedding is becoming more lavisher, and he has much to gain.

A recent survey revealed that millennials are ready to spend a hundred thousand rupees for a typical wedding ceremony that lasts for three to four days in India.

More than 20% of the female and 11% of the male agreed that they can spend ₹10,00,000 to ₹20,00,000 on their wedding. However, another survey said, women opt for low-cost weddings as they get older. Half the people living in India are under the age of 30, reported Vogue India.

While millennials are getting more thrifty, still a majority of Indian weddings cost way more than what the person can ideally afford.

With people using more and more social media, brides and grooms want their wedding to be in a certain way within a certain budget, said Sabyasachi Mukherjee, a famous fashion designer. The demonstration effect as a result of the grand celebrity wedding like Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas or Ranveer Singh And Deepika Padukone are adding to the desire.

Every business related to wedding is thriving. Anita Dongre, an Indian fashion designer, registered an annual turnover of over ₹700 crores (£82.2 million) in 2019, a 30% increase compared to last year.

Indians have always been known to splurge at weddings. Even the poorest of the lot tend to save their entire life, or borrow in a huge way, to fund the weddings of their children. The stakes are much higher today.

Luv is minting money as a celebrity wedding photographer. But that’s just a stepping stone. Israni is all set to be a director. He recently directed a music video with TSeries and is planning to do much more than photography.
See also:
The remarkable journey of Byju Raveendran from a teacher to a billionaire
A 27-year old has his own beer brand that is earning ₹125 crore just in its third year