Continued from Part I ...
My sudden departure from Down Under due to personal reasons in 2011 end and there after some not too great things happening in my life generally and my prolonged illness , thwarted my long cherished desire to become a photographer . From 2011 end to 2014 beginning I hardly had the time and the inclination to click anything , things were not conducive to pursuing hobby or doing anything apart from earning a livelihood. Life was too mundane, predictable and boring.
However in between like a fidgety semi pro photographer , I bought my first DSLR Canon 1200 D ( now obsolete ) and then sold it to buy 60D( almost obsolete ) . I dont remember distinctly what was my motive behind changing 2 DSLR's in a space of 1 year but in my subconscious mind something was cooking.
But I was not very sure what was going to be my next course of action . I did click some random ones with 60D but my knowledge level was extremely limited to manouvre a DSLR let alone master it. Those were very dodgy times in life with mind hovering in between things . And then like a man possessed with super natural powers I made another purchase - this time buying the highly technical semi pro Canon EOS 7D by selling off my 60D. Canon EOS 7D ( again obsolete now ) is one of Canon's best ever camera to come out of its stable over the years and was going to become my best friend in shooting over the next few years .
I was getting itchy by now and in a desperate move asked my mom to speak to my uncle who is a top journalist of WB and India to see if he could find me some one who literally " teaches " photography. It was funny on my part to make such a request to uncle via mom but I guess it was destiny that was staring at me . I always believed and still believe that photography and cinema are best learnt under journalists and photographers for they know the art of clicking human lives far better than a photographer or director who has come out of a Photography school or a Film Institute.
What happened next as I look back after 3 years was sheer frenzy and excitement. I wont go into the details of how my Uncle had set up an appointment with one of India's very best human photographer ( which I came to know much later ) , my only recollection from those earlier telephonic conversations in early May 2014 was that the gentleman asked me to view his work online on a particular website ( which am not naming deliberately ) and understand what these pictures were all about. I watched them again , again and again and could understand that he was very good in black and white pics , a trait and trademark which I understood much later. In my excitement to get tutored by him I was in a hurry to ogle that I will in all likelihood want to be under his wings ( after 3 years what a wing it has become ). He then told me to arrive at his place in Salt Lake on June 1 , 2014. I remember the date very distinctively as this was the date which was going to change my life in more ways than one .
June 01, 2014 was a phenomenal day for me as I now look back . I was up at his place before time in Salt Lake and with butterflies in stomach I pressed the bell . After few seconds , the door opened and a gentleman in his late forties , heavily bearded opened the door . My gate way to Mature Photography had started ... An association that will be for ever ...
Me with Rajib Da at Kumartuli 2015 Pujas
Much as I would like to say that this association is like Ramakant Achrekar - Sachin Tendulkar , only time will tell whether and how far can I go . But standing at this point of time all I can say is that my preparation as a journalistic photographer who captures the transient phases of human society and lives is almost nigh perfect . Only destiny will dictate what will happen to future in photography.
Looking back now I am amused how easy it has been to nurture my raw talent to what I am now - almost a finished product raring to go ( being modest but my confidence level is pretty high as always with Photography ). But actually it has been a very difficult road that I travelled in these 3 years.
The below couple of pics will give an example . The one below, I clicked during my first few days with Rajib da .
Rajib da's pet lab Goldie clicked in 2014 June
and now this one ----
Taken in May 2017
A cursory glance at both will tell you the difference in the quality and quanity of the click and hence the evolution of the photographer in both . In terms of framing, balance, aperture and everything . Not that the one clicked in 2014 is bad in any ways but then I didnt know how to click and now I know all the nuances and intricacies .
This is the point I wanted to make - this happens when you " learn " photography per say under a knowledgeable man rather than going to an institute and pay money and learn nothing.
My first few classes went only to understand the basic metrics of photography - aperture, shutter speed, light and ISO. These are so intrinsic to photography like a mother's milk to a 6 week baby. Once your basics are correct, probaly you only need to hone your skills and can click anything and everything under Sun . To be honest things were going above my head for quite some time till I decided to click random things stupidly to have a better idea of things like low light , setting aperture etc . And as they say when u learn yourself , you learn better than others I also found after some time fidgeting with my 7D that the best time to click was either between 5-7 in morning depending on the summer/winter season and 3.30-6 again depending on the season. Once I realised this I guess I was ready to understand what Rajib da was trying to make me understand. Photography apart from a skill to click is also a function of LIGHT ..
Importance of light in Photography :
Light or rather the lack of it can make photography terrible . A breath taking photo and a terrible one can be differentiated by LIGHT . Although as a journalistic /documentary photographer I need low light to shoot , however one cannot deny the importance of light . WIthout proper light , a photograph can be grainy and blurred . Professional photographers understand the relationship between their camera settings and light . Different lights create different effects in a photograph.
Low light situations :
Since I deal primarily with documentary photography , low light situation is extremely important for me. It has always been. Taking photographs can be a challenge in low light .If flash is used , subject may be washed out because of harsh lighting .Taking a photo without a flash in low light can give a grainy image that is blurry and filled with indistinct objects. When one needs to click in a dimly lit room or at night , one can change the camera settings to compensate for the dim lighting . ISO needs to be set at a higher setting so that camera shutter can take advantage of any available light in the room. However good a photographer may be , one must realise that it is very difficult to get sharp images in dim light .
A candid Rajib da - June 2014
Back to the rivetting story . The first 7 classes were theoretical where I was told the difference between ISO, Aperture , Shutter speed, F stop etc. After practising at my place and at Rajibda's house I finally got the permission to go outside and click - start to my theoretical stuff.
ONE OF MY FIRST GOOD CLICK on that eventful first day - July 20 2014 , probably one of my defining clicks for quite some time.
The above click by some stroke of luck without much understanding of the different matrices of photography actually turned out to be a good one. Back to the classes - the basic plan that was chalked out was that after the theoretical classes we would hit the road to different parts of Kolkata and outskirts to click some different different types of photographs in different settings and light .
From Day 8 to Day 52 we had a memorable journey as it panned out - traversing across the length and breadth of kolkata covering some memorable places and landmarks . The advantage of being with a talismanic photographer like Rajib da was you knew that you will be led into places laden with enriching history . And it turned out to be precisely so. Staying in Kolkata for more than 30 years I hardly knew so many iconic historical places that my CITY OF JOY boasted . Producing one of those rare gems below - this was Aug 2014 early days of my learning . Pardon my juvenile knowledge at that time , this is one of my favorite clicks from that time.
The memorial of Job Charnock - founder of kolkata
From Job Charnock Memorial , Andul Palace , Park Street Cemetery, Bhawanipore Cemetery, Kumartuli , Princep Ghat, Babughat, Early morning Maidan, Bow Barracks Lane , Wajid Ali Shah's Imambargah in Metiabruz , Missionaries of Charity , Iconic Dalhousie , Byelanes of Chuchrah and Chandan Nagore, Bawali Rajbari Budgebudge to so many unknown and known places - the journey enroute a photographer was thrilling and so much fun that after a year I hardly felt the burden of learning so many difficult things at the same go .
Kumartuli - Aug 2014
Light or rather the lack of it can make photography terrible . A breath taking photo and a terrible one can be differentiated by LIGHT . Although as a journalistic /documentary photographer I need low light to shoot , however one cannot deny the importance of light . WIthout proper light , a photograph can be grainy and blurred . Professional photographers understand the relationship between their camera settings and light . Different lights create different effects in a photograph.
Low light situations :
Since I deal primarily with documentary photography , low light situation is extremely important for me. It has always been. Taking photographs can be a challenge in low light .If flash is used , subject may be washed out because of harsh lighting .Taking a photo without a flash in low light can give a grainy image that is blurry and filled with indistinct objects. When one needs to click in a dimly lit room or at night , one can change the camera settings to compensate for the dim lighting . ISO needs to be set at a higher setting so that camera shutter can take advantage of any available light in the room. However good a photographer may be , one must realise that it is very difficult to get sharp images in dim light .
A candid Rajib da - June 2014
Back to the rivetting story . The first 7 classes were theoretical where I was told the difference between ISO, Aperture , Shutter speed, F stop etc. After practising at my place and at Rajibda's house I finally got the permission to go outside and click - start to my theoretical stuff.
ONE OF MY FIRST GOOD CLICK on that eventful first day - July 20 2014 , probably one of my defining clicks for quite some time.
The above click by some stroke of luck without much understanding of the different matrices of photography actually turned out to be a good one. Back to the classes - the basic plan that was chalked out was that after the theoretical classes we would hit the road to different parts of Kolkata and outskirts to click some different different types of photographs in different settings and light .
From Day 8 to Day 52 we had a memorable journey as it panned out - traversing across the length and breadth of kolkata covering some memorable places and landmarks . The advantage of being with a talismanic photographer like Rajib da was you knew that you will be led into places laden with enriching history . And it turned out to be precisely so. Staying in Kolkata for more than 30 years I hardly knew so many iconic historical places that my CITY OF JOY boasted . Producing one of those rare gems below - this was Aug 2014 early days of my learning . Pardon my juvenile knowledge at that time , this is one of my favorite clicks from that time.
The memorial of Job Charnock - founder of kolkata
From Job Charnock Memorial , Andul Palace , Park Street Cemetery, Bhawanipore Cemetery, Kumartuli , Princep Ghat, Babughat, Early morning Maidan, Bow Barracks Lane , Wajid Ali Shah's Imambargah in Metiabruz , Missionaries of Charity , Iconic Dalhousie , Byelanes of Chuchrah and Chandan Nagore, Bawali Rajbari Budgebudge to so many unknown and known places - the journey enroute a photographer was thrilling and so much fun that after a year I hardly felt the burden of learning so many difficult things at the same go .
Kumartuli - Aug 2014
Kumartuli - Mahalayas 2014
Park Street Cemetery - Sept 2014
On way to Bhawanipore Cemetery - Oct 2014
Babughat - Nov 2014
Another of my good clicks of that time - A Muslim Family at Bow Barracks - a Christian community at the heart of Central Kolkata. Unity In Diversity
Bow Barracks Lane - XMas Day 2014
Streets of Kolkata - Chitpur ,Jan 2015
At Nawab Wajid Ali Shah's Mausoleum - Metiabruz , Jan 2015
Bawali Rajbari Budgebudge , May 2015
The above dozen pics briefly encapsules what I was trying to do and learn . A rich body of places and in different lights - trying to get my basics correct as a photographer. Lighting, aperture , and a bit of framing .
The initial discussion was to learn for a year but as my time was coming to an end both me and Rajib da felt that I had progressed beyond the levels that was desired at the beginning , and slowly but gradually the thought crystallized that we should continue for a year at least at a more professional level . Till now I was shooting in .jpeg format which is a base format for all photographers but now we decided to upgrade to .RAW format which is used by advanced photographers all over the world . The format was decided , time frame was extended but the bigger question that loomed large was what would be the topic ? Till now I was hovering between topics but in advanced form one needs to concentrate on one topic only ..
In the month of May 2015 - the last month of my 1st year under Rajib da began the earnest search for the most important thing - TOPIC that a photographer doing serious photography needs to decide. I still remember that we were having animated conversations about what would be the topic and hours were being spent on the same ... Chitpur Road , a fascinating road of old central kolkata came up but since it has been a favorite of many hence we had to discard it . It was then that my close friends - Rajarshi and Ina, a lovely couple whom I befriended early in the summers came up with the suggestion of a place that eluded my imagination - a place which was new and was coming up in the horizon. Not that I hadnt thought about it but just that making it a theme had escaped my imagination. Hence began a journey which I am still persuing very honestly and with great diligence that in my friend and inner circle I am called the man from NEWTOWN.
YES ...... Newtown the second city to Salt Lake which was coming up fast and furious became my subject for the next two years and as I am almost about to finish my work on the much beloved subject , I can state safely that my work in Newtown has been honest and detailed .
Newtown - Rajarhat - The New City
First things first . Newtown is a SATELLITE CITY . Its not an extension of Salt Lake but Sec - V which is the IT hub of Kolkata. Its partly in North 24 Parganas and partly in South 24 Parganas. It consists of two erstwhile villages Rajarhat and Bhangar. The area mainly consisted of huge acres of cultivable lands and water bodies which have since been acquired and developed in a planned manner. The master plan envisages a township which is three times bigger than the neighbouring Salt Lake City.
Being a planned township , Newtown has broadly been divided into three areas - Action Area I ( mainly malls, a sub CBD and residential and commercial plots ) ; Action Area II ( main CBD, IT business parks like DLF ,TCS Gitanjali Park and Unitech , plots for large apartmental complexes and modern art edifices like Kolkata Museum of Modern Art and Eco Park ); Action Area IIC having large residential housing projects like Hiland Woods, Akankha , Sunrise Point etc ; Action Area III mainly comprising of hig rising residential complexes like DLF Newtown Heights, Shrachi Rosedale, Unitech Uniworld City and various educational institutes like IIT Kharagpur , St. Xaviers College , IT Majors like Infy and Wipro have set up campuses here.
So much so about Newtown .... the question remained why Newtown of all places ?
I have faced this question time and again in all circles - official, personal and social . Why why Newtown ? And I have thought about it .. And finally I have come to this conclusion that it had to be Newtown. Since I am a documentary photographer with journalistic approach , the transitory phase of a civilization or a new city will definitely be more appealing to me than the mundane Sun , Moon , Earth , Sea or Mountain or for that matter men, women in groups ( although I may do portraits later ).
Newtown as a planned city came up in phases since 2007 onwards . And since 2011 the progress of work has been quite hectic with DIDI coming to power . If u try to capture something which is in transition , then the best thing to do is start immediately . Having understood that the best thing was to start off immediately in a phased manner - Action Area II and IIC and sparsely Action Area III. As I witnessed later over a period of 24 months, Action Area III gave us more heart breaks than the other ones because apart from Shrachi , Uniworld and Elite Vista a little far away , none of the buildings came up in a major way to give us the pics that I required .
So from June 1 2015, till date ( am drawing close to my timeline ) I have concentrated on the growing civilization - a tale of a satellite city called Newtown . I have tried to capture to the best of my ability the transient phase of a growing civilization which will act as a documentary for the ages and people going forward. Even in these 2 years Newtown has evolved a lot hence when I look back at my clicks there is a distinct change of flow . Action Area II & IIC have undergone a lot of change which my documentary will capture and present.
Hopefully , people have understood by now why I choose Newtown because a new city always offers more visual delight than a city already built . Newtown offered me a wonderful visual gratification in terms of something that was always growing and changing every day . These 2 years under the watchful eyes of Rajib De , I have tried to capture the fascinating development of a new city called NEWTOWN.
Have a look :
Thats all I would assume would be enough to hack you to boredom . Encompassing 2 years hard work is not easy and I did not make any effort as well. All I wanted to share was why I and how I worked . As you will scroll through the pictures you will understand what a growing civilization is all about . Some of the pics taken at a years' gap will tell you the growth this place has had . It was a fantastic experience working through the semi urban roads and villages in the outskirts of Rajarhat and Bhangar and the effort itself was very rich and rewarding . I became a witness to the unfolding of a civilization right before my eyes .
A little bit about Professional /Advanced Photography
Just as I had no idea about the minute details about a DSLR camera till I started my journey with Rajib da in 2014 June , I had no idea what pro photography is all about till I started my work on Newtown in June 2015. And till now I have only learnt and is still learning . Its such a vast ocean that people learn till the last day of their lives. The first thing about professional/ advanced photography is :
a) Start taking pics in .RAW format - If you dont start taking in RAW format you will probably never learn what photography is all about .
b)Try choosing a subject and stick to it for clicking - subject may be as varied as Street, Wedding , Nature , Wild Life, Sports , Nude, Food ,Child etc ( although Sports and Wild Life is damn expensive ).
c) Although quite expensive full frame is a must for advanced photography . I have suffered quite a bit because I dont have a full frame . The shots dont come the way you want specially wide angle and panorama.
d) Low light is an art which you have to master if you want to take photography to a different level. Increasing the ISO and reducing the Shutter Speed will help you to an extent but its imperative that one must know and learn how to click in low light . I am still learning the same ..😋😋😋😋
e) If you can start using Tripod at some time or the other it will definitely help as it reduces the shaking to a large extent.
f) Try using all the settings manually . Auto is an option which is to be used sparingly.
g) Last but not the least if you dont have the EYE to see beyond the obvious , one will never become a good or a great photographer. Thats why the " eye of an photographer " and the way he /she visualises a pic which others dont , makes the difference between the average and the brilliant .
Last but not the least it would be quite unforgiving if I dont write a word or two about my beloved weapon which survived all the rigours of this 3 year sojourn : My trustworthy CANON EOS 7D .
Just like the faithful dog in HMV ad many years back , my 7D has been talismanic . Such a brilliant non full frame camera and it has served me so well and continuing to do so . One of the best semi - professional cropped sensor digital single lens reflex camera ever to come out of Canon - Apart from its little discomfort in low light Canon 7D has been a very very good camera to work with . I would have never done what I could without this brilliant friend of mine ..
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