humans of leap — amrita samant

amrita samant is the founder of mommy shots by amrita and mommy shots academy.

amrita samant is the founder of mommy shots by amrita and mommy shots academy.

“when i was 6 years old, my teacher ushered me onto stage in a red paper skirt, saying “go on, move yourself, shake your hips.” that was the moment i fell in love with the performing arts, and, ever since, i’ve taken every opportunity i can to perform and express myself.

art was not a viable career option, so i ended up studying engineering. but, being who i am, the majority of my college days were spent dancing. after 3 years of that, my sister suggested i switch to hr. i was good at it, enjoyed it and moved up the corporate ladder pretty fast. but my life was split into two halves: 9–6 i was at work; 7–10 i dedicated to the arts. eventually, living in two different worlds got to me. a creative career was my true calling, but here i was on the brink of moving to the united states to take on a senior hr role.

that’s when i decided to jump ship — take 6 months to see what happens. at that point, i’d started dabbling in photography and loved it. i told my mentors, colleagues and boss that i’m going to quit, but also that i’ll be back if it doesn’t work out. what a crazy 6 months it was! i got my first gig, created a facebook page and uploaded the pictures. there was massive demand. it was working!

then, suddenly, business dried up completely. i sliced my pricing by 80%. i borrowed my friends’ kids to build a portfolio. still, no business. with shattered dreams, i reconnected with my hr network, admitted that i made a mistake, interviewed for hr roles, landed a great job, and, 5 very confusing days later, i did the most embarrassing thing of my professional life: i quit again. but this time i decided that i’ll do whatever it takes to make mommy shots work.

photography allows me to share in 2 of the world’s most wonderful things: childhood and parenthood. wherever i can, i support children and parents who face challenges. i’ve photographed kids at orphanages with their friends, i do an annual campaign for breastmilk donation using a series of breastfeeding photos, i support parents who are acid attack survivors, and i started photographing single parents across india in an effort to normalise it. it’s 8 years and 1800 shoots later, i’m living my dream!”