" Our photography is rooted in human connection and authenticity. Before we attempt to capture your essence we want to know WHO you are. We want to make photographs that embody the true you."
- Neo Pillay, Photographer
A Photograph is but a Snapshot of our Journey Together
Coaching | Confidence | Mentorship| Connection | Photography
Lila Fine Art Photography is an artistic photography passion project run by a husband and wife team out of Durban, South Africa. Līlā (pronounced Lee-laa) has many inferences in ancient Sanskrit, our favourite being
Freedom is to be distinguished from necessity.
We pour our life experiences into our time with our clients to bring out that which they most desire to feel about themselves. When you feel ready, our artistic photography freezes those moments in time, as they shall never be ever again.
Who is the Līlā Experience for?
The Līlā Experience draws on influences from Indian culture but is by no means limited to it. All philosophies are welcome here. The experience is for individuals, couples, small friend groups, male, female, LGBTQI+, any non-binary or other orientation and all race and cultural groups of any age.*
*Identification for boudoir shoots will be required. All participants must be over the age of 18 years.
Why should you consider the Līlā approach?
That should not be for us to influence. You should want to embark on this journey without our rhetoric.
We can say that the Artist (Neo) has an uncommon balance of left and right-brained approaches to life. It results in an artist who is equal parts creative and analytical. The artistic side cannot be purely learned through logic and reason, it must be felt. Yet, harnessing the power of scientific research allows for the expansion of creative possibilities at an exponential rate.
Neo studies film style cinematography, lighting and colour grading as well as the scientific and psychological theories behind shape, colour and emotion to construct a shoot that embodies your story.
We encourage you to visit our blog where our research, artistic interpretations, philosophical views and more are discussed.
Once we are comfortable on the inside, our true essence can be captured on the outside
Our process was born out of our own personal journeys, that have seen us grow from shy introverts to happy (still) introverts who are comfortable with who we are, because in a world that promotes extroversion, there is much to be enjoyed on a far deeper level as introverts if approached in a conducive way.
"In my personal journey, I have gone from feeling insecure and inadequate as a teenager, to creating an extroverted facade to pander to society's demands, to deeply analysing what has made me who I am today. The result has been that today I am able to harness the full power of being an introvert, and not feel stereotyped about it. I am proud to be me, and if that means reading a book when everyone else wants to make small talk, then the world around me just does not understand me. And that is okay.
I may draw energy from being alone and in deep thought, that is when I am most powerful, but that does not mean that I don't want to enjoy photographs of myself, or give a special gift to someone, like others seem to. I just need it to be approached in a very specific way.
This is the heart of our process. We spend 80% of the time together getting comfortable psychologically and emotionally whilst planning and practising for the actual photo session. That time is spent on sharing life experiences and exploring intrinsic factors that have shaped your personality.
Only when you are ready, do we plan the actual photo session. Whether it's artistic or candid portraiture, monochrome or boudoir, you decide what you're comfortable with and want to express."
- Neolen Pillay, Photographer.
Please visit OUR APPROACH page. It is very important that our expectations are well aligned before proceeding any further.