The 24-year-old Sagar discovered his passion for photography when he received his first android phone. Sagar comes from a very challenging background, but he did not let his constraints get in the way of pursuing his dream and aimed at skilling himself in the art.

Sagar hails from a small village in Uttar Pradesh. He lost his father when he was just five. Despite their poor financial condition, his mother provided education to all six children.

In 2015, Sagar completed his 12th and shifted to Pune along with his family. He secured a seat in BA Political course at Kanpur University (Distance learning).

Sagar’s life-turning moment was when his mother gifted him a smartphone in 2018. He started taking pictures with his mobile camera, and people appreciated his photography skills. When Sagar learned about Short Film Festival, he shot his first short film on the mobile. His film was nominated at the National Science Film Festival in 2019. This inspired him to buy a camera, but he did not know how to operate it. He inquired about photography and videography classes, but he knew his family wouldn’t be able to afford the sky-high fee.

When he learned about the Lighthouse, he took a foundation course and completed a photography course. He enrolled in Junoon EDP and completed five days of business development training by Youth Aid Foundation. He is now being mentored by Vandana (Media Consultant to IDFC) and Mehul Chimthankar (Founder- StorySixty_creating visual assets https://storysixty.com/).

Sagar has been honing his skill for the past three years and takes up many projects on a freelance basis. He began his own company named ‘@Sagar Photography Pune,’ which has given him numerous opportunities to capture someone’s special day or event. Sagar has been nominated thrice for the National Science Film Festival and received an award in 2020. As you read this story, another film shot by him is being shown at the National Science Film Festival at Bhopal. We wish him the best for this incredible achievement.

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Junoon is an entrepreneurship development program that fosters support to micro-entrepreneurs from low-income communities intending to bring stability and growth to their businesses. IDFC FIRST Bank implements Junoon in partnership with Lighthouse Communities Foundation and GOYN.