"I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be 'happy'. I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all, to matter and to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all."

- Leo C. Rosten

Monday, April 6, 2009

Photographing Children


A tiny tot with an ice cream. This is my favourite.

Photographing children is a delight for me. I love children, their straight-forwardness and their brilliant smiles. I have been doing a lot of street photography these days. So I do not get much time to come online and post my pictures. Here are three of my favourite street photographs of children. 

This following one is of a few village children. I made friendship with them at Joydev Mela and managed to get a lively picture. It is very important to become a part of them before you take their pictures. They must be natural in front of the camera. In this picture I like the shyness of the girls. It adds a flavour to the picture.


I shot the following one just three days ago. It was a pleasure to photograph these street children from the pavements of Bidhan Sarani. They ran up to me when they saw me with a camera. And I got a great opportunity. I entertained them a lot by carrying out a photo session of them and their parents. It was a wonderful experience for them as well as for me. I was happy to see their amusement when they saw their pictures on the LCD of my camera. It was something new to them. 



I hope my readers like these pictures. Photography, for that matter any art, is very hard to practise if you want to make it to a laudable position. It is not easy and mere 'eyes' is not enough. It is more than that. It is everything from people management and street smartness to good knowledge of your equipment and its limitations. It is a lot of hard work. Given the kind of time and hard work that it demands, ony those people, whose living depends on it, can practise it to the depth. So it seems that things are pretty bleak for me. 

18 comments:

Tanmoy said...

Dear Subhanjan,
I cannot speak of the technicalities of the photographs you shoot because my knowledge is limited. However, each time I visit you I am pleasantly surprised to see your shots and also read about the thoughts that goes behind them. They are excellent in my eyes.
When are you off to Delhi?

Subhanjan said...

It feels good to see that my pictures are excellent in your eyes Tanmoyda. Honestly speaking I do not know whether my pictures are really good or not. With assurances from readers like you, I get a reason to carry on with my hobby.

I will be leaving for Delhi in July. A new turn is going to come in my life. A new place and new people. But I will definitely come back to Kolkata in the future. I love Kolkata. It is a photographer's paradise.

a.erakkil said...

wonderful shots Subhanjan.
One thing we get to learn from handling kids is how much patience we have and kudos to your patience, for it would have been harder with a camera in hand.
I loved the tone you have used in the clicks but felt like you could have tried pure black and white too, espcially the first one with the gleam in the kids eye.

//Given the kind of time and hard work that it demands, ony those people, whose living depends on it, can practise it to the depth. So it seems that things are pretty bleak for me.// Well Subhanjan,life is queer with its twists and turns and its evident from your pictures that the efforts you are putting now will definitely open up opportunites in the long run.
And i guess you are moving to Delhi for a job.Best wishes.
Anoop

Subhanjan said...

Thank you for so much of encouragement Anoop. I am glad that you liked the pictures. More than patience, there is also some amount of luck behind success in photography. You need to be in the right place, in the right time, with the right equipment and with the right skill. Street and Landscape Photography is all about this.

I am shifting to Delhi to do my MBA. I have still two years to go till I get my first salary. I have had work experience. But that was commissioned. It does not pay much. My session will start from July. I am concerned about my photography. It is hard to find good spots in a new city. It will take me two years to know the city well. Then I will be able to practise my hobby.

Subhanjan said...

And I tried black and white in the first picture. It did not impress me much.

floreta said...

you are really great with portraits :)

Suvro Chatterjee said...

Get in touch with Arani in Delhi. He has a very good eye for photogenic locations and situations, and he's been around that city for a bit.

I seem to sense a hint of disappointment, if not despair, in your last lines. I hope you are not giving up already... it's been just a few months! Good things in life are not of the same nature as two-minute noodles.
Sir

Alka Dwivedi said...

Hi!
You have captured nice moments with children. The expressions on their faces are priceless. I hope your last few lines were just passing thoughts. They will not last with you longer. Its nice that you are coming to Delhi for MBA. Whenever you come here let me know. My mail id is alka.dwivedi@gmail.com

Subhanjan said...

A little bit of encouragement from you boosts me up. I will get in touch with Arani da soon. I will call him up on the coming weekend. He must be very busy on weekdays.

I am not giving up. But sometimes when I see wonderful pictures taken by some photographers of almost the same age as mine, I start feeling that photography is not for me. There is also a lot of politics involved. Sometimes I see most ordinary pictures coming out in photographic journals and I realise that this takes place on the basis of 'who knows whom'. Whereas I have seen photographs that are really wonderful and significant but do not make it to a magazine or award. These photographers and their photographs go unseen. It also pains me to see that a fashion photographer earns fifty times more than a photographer taking pictures on important social issues. Fashion photography is very hard to do. I accept that. But then why will a fashion photographer earn in lakhs and crores when another photographer, spending days in sweat on the field under the sun and making a documentary on something significant, finds hard to get a grant for his work just because his work is not 'sexy'.

Almost every field now is full of filth and politics. I have also observed and heard that photographers are very selfish. A photographer will try not to appreciate your work even if it is a good one. Good criticism is welcomed. But many photographers simply mislead you. Some behave like hungry wolves. When one of them goes to a place, he keeps things in secret so that other photographers never come to know where he had gone. The intention is to grab every possible picture there and not let anyone take pictures over there. After realising all these, I find myself as a lone photographer who does not know where to go to take images and what to take.

Subhanjan said...

Thank you Alkadi. I will surely let you know. As far as my thoughts behind the last line is concerned, you may read my previous comment which is my reply to Suvro Sir.

Ron said...

Subhanjan,
Thank you so much for stopping by my blog. I just had a chance to see some of your work and I absolutely love it! Never ever think your pictures are not good enough. One thing I've learned about our craft is to never shoot to please anyone but yourself. You have to be happy with your work first before you can expect anyone else to happy with it. It all depends on YOU!

I look forward to seeing more of your work and will be following. Thanks again!
Ron

Subhanjan said...

That was very sensitive Ron. Thank you. I will keep your words in my mind.

Chanchal said...

aclSubhanjan da, I have been to your blog many times in the past and every time, there was the same comment bouncing in my mind, that your pictures speak a great deal, they are good from all points of photography, though I know almost nothing of it.

These pictures, in particular make an impact, they bring grief amalgamated with anger, both the emotions equally related to my society.

I come to know from the other comments that you're going to leave for the capital. I can only wish and pray that your motives are fulfilled, your plans are executed.

Take care,
Love
Manoshij Banerjee

http://manoshijanalyzing.blogvis.com

Subhanjan said...

Thank you Manoshij for visiting my blog. I am curious to know what elements have you found in my pictures that generates grief and anger.

ChinkyGirLMeL said...

Wow, you take great photographs. You seem to capture their hearts and emotions with just a click of a photograph. I love it. Those pictures really reach out to me. =)

Subhanjan said...

Dan Denarado sent this comment to me. I published it but it did not appear on my blog. I do not know why. But here is what he said:

"Thanks for stopping by my blog, Subhanjan. And thanks for the link you shared. It is FuN! You have some outstanding work here. I, too, love great photos of children. I will be following along. All the best to you."

You will find Dan at:
http://danieldenardo.blogspot.com/

Thank you Dan. And thank you my friend from Philippines for visiting my blog. Stay well. And love all.

Chanchal said...

Those charming faces, shining with the zeal of childhood, inviting folks to slip down into memory lanes to recapitulate their own old good days..that is what feels good.

On the other hand, the same faces remind of tons of similar children who have lost their childhood days, under undue pressures that were attached to their fate, on birth. This is sorrowful, in deed.

Stay fine
Manoshij

Anonymous said...

The expressions on the children's faces, especially in their eyes, are wonderful. I'm sure this because of the time you take forming a relationship with them.
Best wishes,
Carole