1. What is your earliest memory of how or what attracted you to photography?
In 2005, my father gifted me a camera – it was a very simple digicam – meant for passing my 10th exams successfully in spite of several hurdles. My sister was ten years old and I stalked her all the time with the camera, making a lot of images of her. A friend of mine wrote Bengali rhymes to go with the photos, and it was eventually made into a dummy book. It gave me a lot of enthusiasm – we are all creative within – if my father and my friend hadn’t nurtured my interest in photography, I would have been toiling as a bored copywriter in some bad ad agency.
But there is also another thing that fueled my interest tremendously – my friend gifted me his old copy of a Don McCullin book – and it changed me forever. It had a beautiful essay by Mark Haworth-Booth and a few pages about Don’s life and his career.
Concurrently, around that same time, there was this beautiful gallery called Bose Pacia in Park Street, where I had the opportunity to see various grand shows – a retrospective of Henri Cartier Bresson, Dayanita Singh’s Ladies of Calcutta, Trent Parke’s Minutes to Midnight – these events gave me strength.
2. You were studying comparative literature at Jadavpur University. Why did you drop out? Has this study influenced your practice in any way?
I had an emotional breakdown, which led me to quit college. This background has definitely influenced my practice. At Jadavpur University, we were taught to think freely and think with courage. It helped.
3. Did you study photography formally in a college or university? If so, what was your experience? If not, how did you inform yourself about the medium – the techniques, the language and the aesthetics of it?
I studied documentary photography and photojournalism at Ateneo de Manila University, and it was a great experience. Moreover, there was this module about writing for photographers, taught by the most wonderful teacher, who is now one of my closest friends for many years. She inspired me to write short stories and would read every word I would write. Now, we read each other’s words and are the first people to share our opinion about what we have written.
4. Do you think it is important to receive a formal training in photography?
I think it is important to get formal training in photography. But, first of all, there needs to be a lust for the medium, an uncontrollable enthusiasm for facing life and doing work. No point being a bored student in an art or photography school.
5. If you were to design a photo program for young Indian photographers, what would it look like? Degree courses? Workshops? Mentorships?
All of the three, actually. Degree courses, intimate workshops, mentorships that include both online and physical classes for longer durations.
6. Who or what has inspired you to pursue photography and/or continues to do so?
The lust for life experiences, the lust for going out, the desire to make images and leave behind a strong archive.
7. Is there a book, exhibition or body of work that has really impressed you and maybe influenced your work / life?
Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr., the works of Charles Bukowski, Pico Iyer, and Saadat Hasan Manto.
8. What draws / drew you to the subject matter you are pursuing in your current work?
Gut feeling, usually, and emotions.
9. Do your projects typically run in parallel, or do you focus on one project at a time?
I can’t multitask very well, though I try. I usually do one project at a time. I did Angst from 2013-2018, then 2019 wasn’t very productive, though in the last quarter I started working on Eden, which I don’t know how long I will take to finish.
10. How do you measure success or that a body of work is going well?
I don’t know, actually. Success is the deep desire to stay alive for one more day, one more week, one more month.
11. Do you ever find yourself creatively ‘stuck?’ Is there something that is particularly helpful to you in overcoming this?
I feel stuck every now and then. To overcome this, I go on walks in the evening or do free-hand exercises before sleeping.
12. How much effort do you put into getting your work shown? Is this important to you? Does showing your work feed your creative process, or does it distract you from it?
People romanticize at times about keeping and securing their work for a lifetime. I, however, believe that what I create must be visible – in whatever possible way. Otherwise, on one hand, I am depriving myself of the opportunity to show my work to everyone, while on the other hand, I am being unjust to both the work and the viewers. I love to leave behind my footprints, on Instagram these days (I am not sure what awaits us tomorrow in terms of sharing my work); and, for me, creating and displaying work on the website is of equal importance, too. To give my work a form, apart from a book or an exhibition, is important – and I think that a website is another form of showing work. There are people scratching each others’ backs and saying, “You don’t have a website, hence you’re not up for sale! Bravo!” But for me, as I have said, the website is another form altogether. People may see it or people may not see it – but for me, it is as much a creative process as making a book or having an exhibition. It is part of the whole engagement with photography and texts – it is not a distraction. I am not E.J. Bellocq or G.P. Fieret – I greatly respect them, it’s just that I am not the same animal.
13. Do you feel that there are adequate opportunities and avenues to share / show your work in your home country, or do you always look for such opportunities abroad?
One of the turning points of my life was the Delhi Photo Festival 2015 – and in many ways it helped me launch myself as a photographer. So I cannot say there aren’t enough opportunities. And there always will be. I am now looking for a gallery to represent me in India – maybe in Delhi or Bombay, I don’t know. At some point, things will fall into place, I guess. With my work Angst, however, I am very careful. I want the work to be in museums. With the rest of my work, like Eden or Don’t Let Them Know, while there is a museum edition, I am looking for private collectors, too.
14. Fine art or documentary photography does not always provide enough to make a living. Some do commercial work, others teach. Are there other photography related areas in which you have worked to supplement your living? Some that you would recommend aspiring photographers might consider?
For a long time, I freelanced with Femina as a portrait photographer, this was between 2011-13. I have also worked as an assistant to photographers like Don McCullin, Michael Ackerman, and others. I also work as a guide for tourists in Calcutta, since I am familiar with its history and heritage, culinary diversity, and idiosyncrasies. I am planning on starting tours in the city and maybe a B&B, too. I am not sure if I am qualified to guide aspiring photographers, but since photographers are inherently curious beings and know their cities like the backs of their hands, working as a guide is a very good option. It also helps you look at your city with fresh eyes. I also go on food trails in Calcutta and, while it’s extremely enjoyable to the one visiting the city, it is equally enjoyable to me. Once a friend of mine, who was interested in publishing, came to Calcutta and I took her on a book-binding and printing press trail.
Young practitioners can also use their skills in website building, book designing, and social media marketing, editing, and archiving work to help others and monetize.
15. Digital technology has changed photography drastically over the last few years. Did you initially embrace the changes or resist them? Do you believe the changes have been good for the medium or not? Why?
I have been using a Nikon F80 since 2006 – I use it very regularly. All my digital cameras stop working after a time, but this one keeps going on and on. And while films and processing and archiving is an expensive process, I shudder at the thought of people buying Canon 5D MIV or whatever every few years. I have one, but I use it only on assignments or for work that needs to be done digitally. Eighty percent of my work in Angst, which was done on an amateur dSLR and third-party lens and the tiny on-camera flash, was good enough for my first show in Delhi and Chennai, or 50 x75 cm prints at the Venice Biennale curated by Ralph Rugoff.
Any camera is a good camera, I think.
The less one spends time and money and energy on it, the better. But a good scanner is a must if one is working with film. I don’t have one, yet, for my private use, though.
16. Do you think there is a universal language that photography uses? Do you think that South Asian photographers are finding that they are judged by western criteria and standards?
I am not sure if there is such a debate – with globalization and the spread of internet, we belong to one world. The East vs. West debate can’t go on forever.
17. With your years of experience, of the lessons you have learned, what is the one thing you wish someone had told you when you were starting out?
I wish my skin was even thicker.
I wish I never took life so seriously.
I was in Arles in 2018 at the launch of my first book. I was sitting on a crowded footpath chatting with my friends. There was a huge crowd right there, only in front of this one bar run by a former bullfighter. Suddenly there was silence. And I could see, people stood up; and like how Moses separated the sea, the crowd was separated to the sides and through the middle, a man was pushing a wheelchair. On the wheelchair was a very beautiful old man, smiling, acknowledging the silence and the respect that we showed him – William Klein.
It made me think.
It made me think about how fragile and temporary we are. And how trivial most other things are. Except living fiercely.
18. How would an interested collector go about buying your work?
I don’t think any would – but I can be contacted via eMail at: soham.gupta@gmail.com
19. If you didn’t do photography, what other career might you have pursued?
A career as a bored copywriter. Or as a struggling academician.
[This interview was conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.]
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Copyright © Michelle Chan
20 November
