Anuj Chaman

07/07/2024

It's okay to not always be okay

Live. Reflect. Adapt. Repeat.

For those that want to make a small acknowledgement of themselves in every wear check the link in my bio for some special items I recently created. These are a limited release that will close by end of July.

https://350ff3-60.myshopify.com/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaYoekGdkLVCAOmWgIXuJLNoKZUgWF1kHQYFJEkGL4wfMznf061B_Hgiikc_aem_XLdc6LQN5GV72bZrrvVrXQ

Bespoke clothing to elevate and inspire.

03/11/2024

I'm very excited to showcase my first photography project next week in West London. 📸

Reflections is a retrospective journey through a decade of narratives spanning a dozen countries. It serendipitously reveals exposures that, although entirely unconnected across time and location, are linked by their complementary compositions and emotions. This project is a reflection of my journey, not just as a photographer, but as a person continually moved by the world's hidden connections and the beauty found in unexpected places.

I'm overjoyed to share this milestone with familiar faces and the community. For more details, please find the link below.

(tickets are free so even if event is sold out just stop by :)

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/reflections-a-photography-exhibition-by-anuj-chaman-tickets-850411292067?aff=oddtdtcreator

09/30/2022

Maya & Rosa as Monkions after their latest show, Experiment Human at | Edinburgh, Scotland

09/28/2022

Scheming 🥷...

New People of our World story with Maya & Rosa of out soon...

05/08/2022

The latest post is out. See link in bio.

In this story we chatted with Josh and Joana (in the first photo). I had the pleasure of meeting Josh Beck and Joana Gomes during my first night in Tulum at Tulum Treehouse; a multipurpose oasis they designed and built. It combines guest rooms, an open air restaurant/lounge outdoor dining and rooftop all neatly tucked within the surrounding jungle. 

We go into their story of how they both met, their journey starting their own design office in Tulum ( ) including their philosophies on design and sustainability, what it means to be partners in business and in life and turning obstacles they faced into bridges to overcome them.

An excerpt from the full article below:

Joana on moving to Tulum:

"Landing in Tulum I was happy; you have the qualities of the countryside like I had back in Portugal combined with the interesting people you find in a city. I like the busyness of a city culture but I don't need that for my everyday life.

There's nothing that feels better than going for a swim in the sea before work every day. I feel like I have control of my environment and the people that you are with enough interesting people keep coming around that you get to meet and exchange thoughtful conversations with. Tulum is still very much like this and that inspires me."

---
Joana on what success means to her:

"To me, success isn’t working 50 years of your life, stacking money so you can come here after to retire and live the last 20 years of your life being fulfilled if you spent the other years doing things you're not fulfilled with just to get the money to get to do the things that actually fulfill you after.

I’d rather sacrifice not being where I want to be financially to be fulfilling my life every day. If I look back at the places we've experienced, I'm very happy with how my life developed. Important things in life come from being in the right place at the right time, being able to appreciate the moment and staying present."

05/03/2022

Casa Aviv commands you to slow down and relax. All the thoughtful details have a way of melting away into each other. Take a look and see for yourself.

Keep an eye out for the full article coming out later this week.

In the mean time, here's another excerpt from our chat with the architects, Josh and Joana below where they go into their process and how it's changed moving from LA to Mexico.

----

"Joana:
When we first started out we just focused on designing. But the nature of Mexico itself is fixed in straight construction and Tulum is no different. There aren’t really any true architects that only just design.

Josh: 
It's a very informal process. There are owners of the land and/or existing developments and they tell workers they hire directly what they want built through photos they're inspired by.

Joana: 
It's very hard to understand the work of an architect. We basically deliver drawings. Most of the clients don't know how to interpret or understand the complexity of them. It’s like reading another language. This was a big realization for us moving here. Another obstacle was figuring out how we charge for our work. Coming from Europe and LA, we were working with super high tech architects. Coming here, we had to embrace a whole other way of doing things. 

Josh:
We were used to working in some of the most premier offices at that time in the world, doing super high end, very expensive, one off kinds of things that started with beautiful drawings. And then we came here and we were like, “Okay, cool we have to figure this out."

It's really interesting because this all starts with a client conversation. Just seeds of words. And then those words translate into lines on paper and then designs on a computer and then you get building on site and it just keeps sn*******ng

And it all starts from an initial email that someone sends you. Then two to three years later you’re sitting on the sofa with the client in that place you first talked about. That's a really cool feeling. I feel like a time traveler in some regards."

05/01/2022

A new travel story drops this week!

This time we're chatting with Josh Beck and Joana Gomes, a dynamic design duo who moved to Tulum before the booming influx of tourists. Since arriving, they've developed their trade, grown their own design/architecture business and are creating some the most awe inspiring spaces to live and play. Below is an excerpt of the full article where Josh recounts a time when they were first starting out in Mexico. He quickly learned working with local builders to get the end product they wanted wasn't going to be smooth sailing without a little work.

---

"We were producing our drawings the way we were trained and giving them to our workers to build. I remember this one time in particular, we had this guy that we used to work with all the time and I’m not joking, he takes the design plan and just like a captain on a sailboat going into the storm he holds them straight out from his face with his legs spread out.

He stayed in that pose for 10 minutes. And then after “facing this storm” he responds, “okay we can do it.” Other times we would give drawings to people and they would literally take them and then rotate them 90 degrees, take a look and then rotate it again all the way around.

We realized we're going to have to draw and communicate differently and have different expectations in some cases like Jo was saying they couldn’t build a straight wall. Now, in that scenario it was particularly exacerbated by the owner not wanting to spend enough money for good builders. He had his maintenance team that were all super young kids around 18 years old build that hotel. Maybe one had experience but the owner was running the operation like we'd had 80 people on site, building in this kind of mad rush.

In that process we realized we couldn't do this kind of building with them the way we envisioned. So we had to adapt. It’s something we always discuss with the client now - the team and the materials we’re going to be using.

I feel like adapting is really at the core of our work. For instance, if we suddenly moved to New Zealand or France, what we'd end up building would be in response to what's available."

05/01/2022

A new travel story drops this week! This time we're chatting with Josh Beck and Joana Gomes, a dynamic design duo creating some beautiful spaces in Tulum, Mexico. Below is an exert of the full article where Josh recounts a time when they were first starting out in Mexico. He quickly learned working with local builders in to get the end product they wanted wasn't going to be smooth sailing without a little extra work.

---

"We were producing our drawings the way we were trained and giving them to our workers to build. I remember this one time in particular, we had this guy that we used to work with all the time and I’m not joking, he takes the design plan and just like a captain on a sailboat going into the storm he holds them straight out from his face with his legs spread out.

He stayed in that pose for 10 minutes. And then after “facing this storm” he responds, “okay we can do it.” Other times we would give drawings to people and they would literally take them and then rotate them 90 degrees, take a look and then rotate it again all the way around.

We realized we're going to have to draw and communicate differently and have different expectations in some cases like Jo was saying they couldn’t build a straight wall. Now, in that scenario it was particularly exacerbated by the owner not wanting to spend enough money for good builders. He had his maintenance team that were all super young kids around 18 years old build that hotel. Maybe one had experience but the owner was running the operation like we'd had 80 people on site, building in this kind of mad rush.

In that process we realized we couldn't do this kind of building with them the way we envisioned. So we had to adapt. It’s something we always discuss with the client now, the team and the materials we’re going to be using.

I feel like adapting is really at the core of our work. For instance, if we suddenly moved to New Zealand or France, what we'd end up building would be in response to what's available."

01/17/2022

Always exploring. Listen carefully and the world has a lot to say.

Follow the journey at (and full photo series)

Jogakarta, Indonesia | 2016
📸:

12/29/2021

I’m excited to share a new project I’ve been working on called Pe🌎 ple 🌎 f 🌎 ur W🌎 rld]]

Photography has always been a vehicle I've used to explore and open a window to new places I visit. 

To freeze moments that could’ve easily gone unnoticed. 

To showcase to all what my mind only whispers to me. 

To capture the true essence of people in their element. 

To tell a story without words.

And hopefully to make you feel something.

is me double downing on these goals. It’s going one step further to understand and appreciate the people living in it. 

It’s not just visiting a place but actually getting to know those that call it home. 

It’s sitting down with them and listening to their story and learning from whatever they are compelled to share. 

It’s capturing their spirit and what drives that spirit through my camera lens.

My belief is that everyone has a story worth telling and a lesson worth teaching. 

This project will serve to share these stories and lesions with you.

Follow to follow along in this journey with me.