Edges & Change
Welcome to my world of photography. I'm Rory Bhandari, an enthusiast who has been capturing our world through the lens for nearly half a century. It all began with my mother's cherished Kodak Brownie box camera and rolls of 120 film. My formal journey into photography started during my student days in the 1980s while pursuing Industrial Design at Loughborough University of Technology.
One memorable and pivotal event in my photographic story occurred during a hitchhiking trip to Ireland with my friend Phil. Our mission that day was to document ancient rock art in the hills of Connemara. It was there that I received one of the most valuable lessons in the craft of photography from an unexpected source – a kind storekeeper in Recess village. As we left his store with tripods strapped to our rucksacks, he called after us, “Hey lads! You'll catch a lovely light through your lens today, to be sure.” Those simple words ignited our passion, and we spent the day chasing light amidst the rocks amongst the vast hills of Connemara. On the way back to our guest house, we nearly drowned while walking over what turned out to be a lake covered in matted reeds and grass – but that's another story. That day, with the near-death experience, has etched the lesson into my photographic psyche.
Over the years, I've honed my skills and adapted to the evolving world of photography, always striving to ‘catch a lovely light through the lens.' Today, my camera of choice is the OM-D E-M1 MkII, paired with an M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro lens, both renowned for their robustness, weatherproofness, compactness, and versatility – making them perfect for travel and adventures. To ensure I'm ready for photographic opportunities as they present themselves, I also carry a 7-14mm lens for sweeping vistas and a 40-150mm lens to bring distant subjects closer. The geometry of my camera’s light-sensing means those lenses are effectively twice those focal lengths.
One unique aspect of my photography is my second OM Systems camera body, which has been modified for full-spectrum photography, capturing beyond human perception in both the UV and IR spectrums. By adding colour band-pass filters to my lenses, I can tailor the spectrum I capture, resulting in distinctive and captivating images to suit the situations and mood.
I invite you to explore my portfolio, where I share the world as I see it – from mystical ancient landscapes found in Old Ireland to the hidden gems I discover off the beaten path in other countries. Join me in this photographic journey, where light, mystery, history, and visual beauty converge as I endeavour to capture and preserve some of it in the picture.
Why 'Edges & Change'? As a designer of things and someone deeply interested in the nature of the universe, I've come to believe that in our relationship with our perceptible surroundings – our experiences – there are only two discernible things: edges and change. These 'edges' that define all we sense continuously shimmer in existence, changing in every blink of the eye; they are not hard and fast.