ACHIEVING and GOING ABOVE and BEYOND:
PRATIK PARULEKAR
BY: Justyne Gurley
The School of Photography is very proud and excited to see every student do well and succeed. Pratik Parulekar is one such student who has achieved much recognition. He has gone above and beyond with his still life work and, even as recently as last week, has won many awards.
Pratik Parulekar finished his Bachelor’s in Advertising, but this wasn’t his main passion. He’d always loved the arts, often drawing objects around him. Even from an early age he would enter and win contests. After graduating from college in India, he came to the Academy on the recommendation of a friend. In the Spring of 2017, Pratik made his way to the Academy of Art University’s School of Photography to complete his Master of Fine Art’s degree.
Pratik has won many awards since being here. Some such awards have included gold in the "WORLD’S TOP 10 STILL LIFE PHOTOGRAPHERS 2019", grand prize in PDN’s Photo Annual 2019 contest, bronze and silver in One Eyeland’s 2019 awards, and selected to be featured in the upcoming Communication Arts Photography Annual, volume 61. His still life work is currently ranked #5 for the United Kingdom and #9 for the world’s "TOP 10 STILL LIFE PHOTOGRAPHERS 2019".
Pratik exercises a unique and creative spin on photography, often using his skills in 3D modeling to accomplish the look he is going for. His expert use of Photoshop has led Adobe to reach out to him, requesting a step-by-step presentation on how he approaches the use of digital editing. This, he said, was something his friends had urged him to do, as it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
When asked what he is currently doing during the shelter in place, Pratik said that he is focusing on retouching work that he had previously shot. Pratik has also been a part of a project to photograph the Academy of Art’s classic car collection on Van Ness. He’s been helping Emeritus Executive Director, Jim Wood, complete this project. Even with his retouching work, Pratik is still finding time to shoot from the comforts of his living room.
Pratik graduates this Spring. He hopes to work specifically as a shooter in the future. He also sees himself becoming a studio manager and doing retouching work for the first couple years of his career.
KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK PRATIK AND CONTINUE TO GET YOUR WORK OUT THERE!!!
