A NUMBER of new artists have recently started displaying their work at Ealing's Pop Up Gallery in Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre.

One of them is Raj Joshi, who spent seven years living in Ealing Broadway before recently moving back 'home' to the Midlands.

Raj's love for adventure and photography started from his childhood, which he claims was passed down by his parents.

He told Ealing Nub News: "We used to go on holidays exploring the UK and having lots of adventures.

"My parents were very adventurous; we climbed Mount Snowdon when I was only 18 months old!"

He spent a large chunk of his childhood dabbling with cameras and taking holiday snaps, before going on to study at medical school and graduating as a doctor.

Two decades ago however, he also began his career as an expedition leader, founding his own company called 'The Adventure Boutique', leading people on adventure challenges across the world, in places like Kenya, Mexico, Morocco and Switzerland, just to name a few.

These adventures also include navigating celebrities, such as Cheryl Cole and Gary Barlow to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro as part of Comic Relief and David Beckham through the Amazon jungle as part of a BBC show.

advertisement

He said: "I get to see some incredible landscapes and meet some real characters with interesting faces, clothing and jewellery, it's incredible.

"At the same time, I get to see all this wildlife, which in some cases is critically endangered, I'm in a very privileged position.

"There are more than seven billion people on the planet, but only about 1,000 wild mountain gorillas and I've had the chance to see them in the wild, it's amazing."

During his time as an expedition leader, he would regularly take photos of the landscapes and wildlife available and would often gift some of the photographs to his clients as a parting gift.

"Over the years I received lots of feedback from people saying I should exhibit my photographs, which was really flattering," he said.

He decided to do just that and started exhibiting his work in different galleries.

One of these galleries is the Pop Up in Ealing Broadway, where his work will be on display for two months throughout July and August, until the beginning of September.

At the Gallery you can find prints of Raj's work from as little as £70, with all proceeds going to 'The Adventure Boutique Foundation', a charity that aims to help improve the livelihoods of people and communities around the world.

"The experiences of adventure travel have showed me the real challenges that the world faces, as well as the need and want by some I encountered," he added.

Raj is very pleased to see a gallery in Ealing and is very impressed with the works on offer.

He said: "Ealing is such an amazing place full of green spaces and culture, so it's great to have its own art gallery too.

"The gallery itself has such a wide range of artwork on offer, such a variety, it's very impressive."

You can see Raj's work at the gallery every day from 11am-5pm.