What's Your Why?
Hello, My name is Saurabh Narang. I am an Indian photographer based in Germany. I am doing a Street-Portrait-Interview project called "What’s Your Why?" I started this project in 2016 by asking strangers to pick one thing they are really passionate about and tell me why they do it before I made their portrait.
Today, more and more people feel pressured to chase materialistic goals and get depressed by following a path that is set by others, but I think we are happy if we truly treasure what makes us unique.
My goal with this project is to inspire people to find their WHY by sharing these real-life human stories. This way, they can stay focused on what they truly enjoy doing and wake up every morning inspired to find joy in the smallest details of their daily lives.
I started this project because I've always been curious about "why people do what they do," and their stories inspire me to continue on my own path. I quit my banking job after finding my why in visual storytelling to become a professional photographer.
To my surprise, strangers accepted my project, and hundreds of people, not only from India but from 30 different countries, shared their inspiring stories with me. This made me realise that many people believe in this project, and it is important to continue it and capture as much diversity as possible.
In the last few years, I have traveled all around India using my own savings for this project, and I plan to continue making new work in Europe after the pandemic. I have met people living in big cities, in remote villages, and in indigenous tribes, and they have all shared their whys with me. I have met people like:
- Vincent from France rides around the world to explore rural villages
- Chandrika learns her folk dance to preserve her African tribal culture
- Sevda from Iran learns yoga in India to improve her patience level