Rohan Shrestha, the Indian celebrity photographer making strides in the global arena, has added a Hollywood A-lister to his portfolio. Following his work with Lionel Messi, Kevin Hart and Oprah Winfrey, Shrestha recently completed an exclusive photoshoot with “Deadpool” star Ryan Reynolds.
The timing of the shoot coincides with the release of “Deadpool vs. Wolverine,” which is on its way to becoming one of the biggest hits of the year.
Known for his work with Bollywood icons like Shah Rukh Khan, Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, international Indian star Priyanka Chopra and Indian cricket superstar Virat Kohli, Shrestha has been expanding his reach internationally. Shrestha’s ‘White T Series,’ which features celebrities in simple white t-shirts, has become particularly iconic, capturing the essence of stars like Oprah Winfrey with striking simplicity. The series began in 2012 with actor Abhay Deol.
The son of well-known Indian photographer Rakesh Shrestha, Rohan Shrestha is much sought after for creating stripped-down portraits that aim to reveal the true personality of his subjects. These are particularly evident in his series of personal portraits that besides Khan, Kohli and Bhatt also include “Slumdog Millionaire” star Freida Pinto and “New Amsterdam” actor Anupam Kher. His commissioned work includes the Manchester City soccer team for U.A.E. telecoms provider Etisalat, Jason Momoa for Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island venue, Sofia Vergara for mall VIA Riyadh, Anil Kapoor for Uber and Ranveer Singh for the NBA.
For the Reynolds shoot, Shrestha employed his signature style, creating a series of black and white portraits. The photographer, who is a longtime fan of Reynolds, shared an anecdote about bonding with the star over his early role in “Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place.”
“The first thing I spoke to him about was a show that he was a part of when he was much younger,” Shrestha told Variety. “I told him about his character Berg and how I used to watch that growing up in India. He laughed and said, ‘Oh, that’s awesome, man, that’s still one of my most favorite roles that I’ve played.’”
Shrestha added, “He’s genuinely nice and funny. He made everybody on the crew laugh. For me personally, I was kind of nervous just because it’s always nervy to shoot someone you’re in awe of.”
This moment of connection over Reynolds’ early work created what Shrestha described as “a wonderful moment” that he got to share with the Hollywood star.