A journey from mobile photography to vlogging, meet Asif Shafi a vlogger helping viewers explore new tourist attractions in south Kashmir

Sameer Ahmad

Anantnag,02 October:  Asif Shafi, who once captured pictures from his mobile phone, never expected he would become known as a vlogger in south Kashmir since he is followed on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram by lacs of people.

Despite the picturesque landscapes and mountains in South Kashmir, there are still a few tourist spots that remain obscure to the general public.

Through his Facebook, YouTube and Instagram accounts, Aasif Shafi shows a fresh perspective and an insight into the wonderful places to visit in south Kashmir.

His Facebook account is followed by 5 lakh plus users and every video he uploads gets likes, shares, and comments.

25 year old Shafi hails from the seer Hamdan area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district. Despite having no professional equipment except a mobile phone, he began his journey toward his dream in 2015. Aasif Shafi told Arising State that he started his journey in 2015 with no more than a mobile phone. As the days passed, Aasif Shafi got so engrossed in his photography that he didn’t even care about his studies. As a result, Shafi suffered back lock in the 12th class examination.

Asif Shafi’s attachment to photography did not stop him. Speaking to the Arising State, he said, “I still remember the feeling I felt when I first started photography – that I was literally sick to my stomach because neither my family nor friends supported me.”

As everyone told me, becoming a photographer is not difficult. All you need is a camera and a desire to capture pictures. The truth is that Photography is not everyone’s game. It requires a lot of dedication, time, and skill,he said.

In spite of all odds in my life, I began to walk on this wonderland of photography, from 2015 through 2017. Although I uploaded hundreds of pictures, I rarely got views, which made it difficult for me to communicate my passion for my dream. However, I never gave up and I started to fight hard for it to reach where I am today.

As a photographer, I started submitting photographs to news agencies, and in 2017 I started working as a freelancer for a photo agency namely Pacific Press Agency, covering conflict and landscapes in south Kashmir.

Getting into journalism was not about getting into hard news, but about exploring new places through my vlogging, especially for those who are not able to travel to these places. The dream slowly became a reality for me and I began to travel and help my followers explore new places, he said.

I have worked with several national and international media outlets including The New Arab, The Quint , The Citizen, Getty Images, and Pacific Press Agency.

Shafi had won several national awards in best photography including the India Prime Icon Award, International. 35A Awards and Himalayan Welfare Award.

“In the year 2019, I made a YouTube channel and started making videos and promoting tourism which reached a wide audience and people enjoyed my content. Making videos to promote new tourist places in south Kashmir helped me in gaining followers,’he said .

In the beginning, it was a steep learning curve, and I secretly thought to myself, “who am I? ”This photography career is not suitable for me, since everyone including my family members was criticizing me. But I still looked forward to seeing the pictures on my phone that I captured.

Despite all my critics, Shafi managed to convince his family about his passion for photography and they surprised him with a DSLR.

It was the first time ‘,I held a DSLR in my hands that changed my life. I started to make videos at tourist spots and upload them on social media, and the content I made reached a wide audience and was much appreciated.’

Aasif Shafi is one of many Kashmiri vloggers who started making entertaining videos that reached a broad audience and were well received. Many of these vloggers are earning good money through social media. Among them are several who have earned silver play buttons on YouTube.

Additionally, Aasif Shafi produces documentary films in south Kashmir for the Forest Department.