Vijay Armstrong

A lover of cinematography, one of the best elements of visual media.

I believe that everything - the Written, the Felt, even Dreams can be effectively conveyed visually.

I got into creative art at a rather young age. Though I started out with a law degree, I kept my passion for creativity / images alive with a Diploma in Multimedia. My stint as a student photojournalist for the Vikatan Group and my job as a ‘Graphic and Web Designer’ for Digit Net Communications Bangalore only served to feed my creative vision and hunger. But throughout all this, I was always looking out for something more- A canvas that could take his visual story-telling to the next level.

My journey began in 2000 as a student journalist / photographer for the esteemed publication ‘Ananda Vikatan’. From there I went on to learn about the art of cinema from the connoisseurs of Tamil cinema including B.Kannan, B.Lenin, C.J. Rajkumar, Dwarakanath and Siddharth. I have also been heavily involved in some high-profile projects including ‘Bommalattam’, ‘Autograph’, ‘Yaradi nee Mohini’, ‘Varalaru’ and ‘Kanavu Meipadavendum’.

In 2009 I got my first big break as a cinematographer for Rajesh Lingam’s ‘Pugaipadam’. Following that came my next venture Nanda Periyasamy’s ‘Maththi Yosi’. My cinematography was appreciated and received critical acclaim. My works are 'Thottal Thodarum', 'Azhgu Kutti Chellam’, ’Sutti’ and 'Buddhan Yesu Gandhi'

My skills behind the camera soon got me several assignments including work for over 50 ad films and around 15 documentaries including the BBC documentary about PT Usha and another one for the ILO. I have also worked on a music video ‘Timeless Classics’ – A Malayalam album directed by Mr Jayaram.

I take my first step as a director to make the experience I gained as a cinematographer and my life lessons into stories. I want all my images to reflect my journey and what I have learned from it.

I have learnt that we can arouse strong feelings by using technology in every possible way. My dream is to capture different emotions and innovative stories of cinema through my camera and my journey is towards this goal.