Me and My Photography

They say, ‘The face is the mirror of the mind’. On my quest of nding faces, I found it to be so true. I met so many minds, got to know so many different characters, became friends with beautiful souls and faced disapproving individuals in diverse environments. In a nutshell, life opened its pages in front of me and I kept reading. I'm still on with it as this exploration can never be ceased. As I met different human beings with different features and unmatched characteristics portraying their unique styles, I once again, thought to myself, live life to express, not to impress…

I am an Indian photographer based in Kolkata. My journey of photography started since 2003 during a trek to the Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal. From then on, this passion became an i n t e g r a l part of my life. A f t e r r e a l i s i n g that photography for me is now like breathing, I pur- sued the art to the utmost. A number of both short and long t e r m ( s o m e o f them running as l o n g a s s e v e n y e a r s ) , v e r y serious photography projects on different human interest issues, enriched my photographic career to a great extent. These projects include changing face of Indian traditions like Widow Holi, Hindu rituals like Dondi, Global issues like Climate Change, Social issues like LGBT Movement, human interest issues like Old age, Specially Abled Children etc.

I believe that an artist's w o r k m u s t b e g o o d c o n s i s t e n t l y t o b e considered as an art. I did not practise it just for the sake of aesthetics but for a cause. I take each shot to make sense, bear sense a n d h i t t h e s e n s i b l e viewers. I attempt to portray the moment that would tell a story of the time to the time to come.

According to me, a photographer must be technically competent to use the various tech-niques to change a photograph from a mere snap to a snapshot of time and life. Photographs can be used to narrate a story, and thus have more to it than just being a work of art. I always been inclined in capturing life in all situations. Thus, human element makes for an integral part of my photography. People photography has been the stream that I followed but my h y p e r a c t i v e n a t u r e h a s always kept me
i n u n r e s t . H e n c e , m y p h o t o g r a p h s have been un- p r e d i c t a b l e ,
uninhibited and always telling the story of life i n d i ff e r e n t ways.

Along with photography I have been mentoring young photographers since 2012. I am with a group of Kolkata based photography enthusiasts, started an initiative called “Click Start From Kalighat” aka CSFK."

Author's Details:

Eminent visual storyteller from Kolkata, Joydeep Mukherjee's photographs never miss any chance to depict the social story that is relevant to the contemporary time. If the story telling can be made through photography, Joydeep is convincingly one of the best from our City of Joy.