Meet photographer Debraj Chakraborty: “Always in search of the right shot”

One of the toughest art to master in this planet is – Landscape photography where the colour of the cloud changes every second, the winds blow the way they want, the light does not come with a switch and where the subject does not pose. Nothing stays in the control of the photographer while he or she is amidst the woods. Mastering this tough art and getting recognition from all across is Silchar’s Debraj Chakraborty. Recently he was shortlisted by the world photographic forum among the top 20 landscape photographers, manufacturer Nikon turned to him to influence its mirror-less range in Northeast. 

Apart from being an ace photographer himself who is mostly wandering in search of the perfect shot, Chakraborty is the one stop destination for information related to photography. Aspiring photographers look up to him and draw motivation and he guides each one of them. According to Debraj Chakraborty, landscape photography is all about “the mood of nature and what the photographer makes out of it.”

In an exclusive interaction with Barakbulletin’s Jnanendra Das, Chakraborty talks about his journey so far and shares a few tips for the young ones…

Edited excerpts:

Nikon decided to rope you in as an influencer for the brand in North East, how does it feel to be associated with such a brand?

Nikon was always my favourite camera. I’ve been using Nikon cameras since the time I started clicking pictures. Nikon has always been appreciating my work and has tried to have me aboard in the past too. I was associated with Nikon Photo Schools and other workshops for a while, but as I have a business of my own I could not give time. After they launched their new mirrorless cameras they decided to take me as their influencer for North East. It’s a nice feeling being with the company as the influencer and brand ambassador, it motivates me to work even harder now.

You started as a fine artist, you used to do a painting than how did photography start?

I always loved painting with watercolours or oil pastel. I was always close to aesthetic work and even I had some formal training from eminent artists like Mukunda Deb Nath and Samit Roy. I used to travel to different places with my father since my school days and when I used to see those beautiful sceneries and landscape I always felt like painting them. I used to capture those in my father’s film camera. Maybe that, knowingly or unknowingly made me choose photography as I grew up.

On how photography began: when I started the business, there were cameras, computer and other electronics in my shop and people used to ask me questions about the technical sides of the camera, which I could not answer easily. So, I started clicking pictures to understand the equipments better. On the other hand because of business and all I was left with no time to paint which I used to miss a lot. Landscape photography gradually started to fill that gap and thus I got into clicking pictures.

What was the first camera you took up and your memories from the initial days?

My father’s Yashica Electro – a reel camera was the first one I ever used. Then I switched to a digital camera, SLR and DSLR. I used to sell cameras and gadgets in my shop and thus had an idea about all. I searched the internet back then for guidance on camera and then I saw some beautiful pictures which caught me admiring and motivated me to know more about them. As far as early memories is concerned, the experience of travelling with my father forms the major part of my memories of initial days.

Who inspired you or motivated you to take up photography as a profession?

American photographers like Mark Adamus, David Thompson, Patrick Smith, Ryan Dyar and a few others who were stunning at landscape photography. I still remember there was an abstract landscape which I found really amazing, I wondered how can someone portray nature in such a way. I used to search about them on the internet and so yes, they inspired me to take up the camera. Later, I searched for Indian photographers and I got to see the work of Soumitra Dutta, Dhritiman Mukherjee I got inspired by them too. In fact, I got in touch with them and we participated in a photo exhibition ‘Camarina’ organised by Capital Photo, I also won the landscape photography contest in the same exhibition and my picture was put into the display at ICCR Kolkata. That gave me a big boost…

Northeast is always considered as a difficult region to be for professional growth as there is a scarcity of opportunities, but in terms of finding natural beauty, is Northeast a good place to be?

As a landscape photographer, if you’re from Northeast India, you’re really blessed. The profession of a landscape photographer is difficult because you’re not well paid in that job and getting recognition becomes tougher because of where we stay. In the west, the thing is different though. But then if it’s your passion, we’ve enough spots and locations to shoot, there are lots of undiscovered wealth in Northeast in terms of photography.

Do you think it is an expensive camera or advanced gears that make good photographers?

Good photographs were made before good cameras. From my experience, the first big award I got was for a photo which I shot with a very basic SLR camera. But sometimes for more production value or professional terms, an expensive camera with more megapixels is essential. Maybe the colour retention capacity will be more in case of an expensive gear but if someone doesn’t have an expensive camera, it won’t stop him or her from clicking a good picture because what I think is, a good picture depends on the light and in that case even an ordinary camera will do justice to your work.

For a landscape photographer, a lot of efforts goes after one photo. What was your worst and best experiences while on the journey?

There is no worst experience so far, all the experiences have been fascinating. There is always cloud accompanying me in my shoot days, once I was out to capture a rainbow near ‘Chatla’ but I ended up capturing a thundering shot instead, this one photograph I can never forget and eventually I won a prize for that too. One more instance is from my experience while taking a flight to Ladakh, I made enough calculations about which flight to capture and which direction to sit and when the flight was above the cold deserts I saw the best ever play of lights in the jagged mountains. Both of these are among my favourite works.

We’ve heard that you spend days in a tent to click some photos and also I saw a photo of yours half submerged with camera… How crazy you got to be to be a landscape photographer?

As a landscape photographer, you’re always at the mercy of nature. It is unlike a studio set-up where you can adjust your own lights as per your demand. I always try to make the best out of whatever the mood of the weather is. What I believe is dawn and dusk are the best times to click landscapes. You need to have a good sense of composition and there should not be too many objects on one composition.

One experience I would like to share, I was once in the Karang Island of Loktak Lake in Manipur. I and few of my friends went there and stayed for two nights in a hut to click some good photographs of fishing. On the second day, we thought of scouting the lake and so I thought of doing something unusual to take some underwater shots. I was so much engrossed in that I forgot about the sticky mud beneath. My legs got submerged up to the knees in that mud. I could not move or get out of the water. My friends then came with some fisherman and two boats to rescue me. So, we pass through such instances to make a shot look better. (laughs)

Let’s talk about awards which you have won in numbers, which are the ones that you hold close to your chest?

There are two major awards which are considered as the highest recognitions in Asia – DJ memorial photo contest, that I won in 2012 and 2017. Also, the ‘Camarina’ award is among one of the most important awards which inspired me towards photography. Other than that I’ve got some recognition from different state governments, Ministry Of Tourism and various magazines too.

Where does Debraj Chakraborty see himself in the next 5 years? What are the next plans?

Professionally I’ve not  planned much to get monetary values from my photographs but I’ve a huge passion and I would like to hunt good landscape just to suffice the urge to get better pictures. I’ll try to promote my region – the Northeast because there are lots of hidden and lesser-known assets in this region. I would like to organise photo tours and workshops too.

You are to many in Silchar what Mark Adamus or Soumitra Dutta were to you – an inspiration. What is it that you would like to advice to the young ones who are picking up cameras now and aspire to capture nature like the way you do?

Talking about my genre of photography, it is among the most difficult genre and it’s difficult to sustain by just doing landscape photography, so if there is someone who wants to pursue landscape photography should not just restrict to landscape, but go for other genres which pay well and in the off time one can go for landscape. Wedding photography can be an option and in the lean months, you can suffice your passion. One has to continue to shot.

What I believe is that you have to be the harsh judge of your work, criticise the photograph you clicked and you will see where you can improve. Maybe you’ve done great hard work for the photo but doesn’t mean that you can regard that photo as the best if there is even a little mistake there is a room for improvement.

If you liked the images and want to see more please visit: https://www.debrajchakraborty.com/