We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Partha Sengupta a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Partha thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s jump right into how you came up with the idea?

I wanted to be a photographer since childhood seeing photographers who used to visit in a refugee colony, where they came for news coverage. Later interest grew with time and talking to them. Two eminent Indian photographers I saw while they were working on field are Raghubir SIngh & Raghu Rai, and many international photographers I seen them in the city. I came to know them later, but about the Indian photographers I knew of them through other photographers. I read their books. It was insatiable interest and the age of 14 I did my first wedding assignment of a relative, as the official photographer was sick. So I replaced him though at that time I have knowledge in photography with a borrowed camera of my friend I used to roam around the city. While working in a bank, one my friend use to shoot and I accompanied him only and during a office visit to a place called Rourkella, I saw a hill later discovered that hoards of metal scrap over decades formed a hillock. People scrambled over there to unearth metals to sell for survival and I did my first photo story shared with an American photographer. She encouraged me and Raghu Rai inspired me to do, but I chosen the profession when I joined a human rights organization leaving my banking career. This is the beginning.

Partha , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am independent photographer and mostly my work in Post Colonial Study and Gender Violence. I born in a refugee colony, and later interest develop on the colonial study and there I witnessed the gender violation. My portfolios are mainly on these. I did a video documentary on human trafficking in India, in the career beginning. Then I did commercial and wedding assignments but the core of documentary remains – followed with portfolios you are seeing. I am the only photographer who intensively working on visuals for the post colonial study. Because of my refugee experience makes me apart from other photographers and researchers as I do research before the story shoot. My personal experience in the colony, family members memory and extensive travelling for refugee issues and on gender violence, richness in experience I have.
I did some commercial work and wedding do regularly to sustain to make the documentary. My style of work makes me difference from other photographers. I do extensive research whether it is commercial or documentary give me ideas for story development. And for this I take time with consultation of the client or my subject. Thorough understanding help me how the story would develop which makes a difference.
For weddings or commercials work, I spend many days at the location, with the product or with the bride and the groom to understand their tastes, choices and color preferences. Help me to identify their strength.
For documentary work I spend days with the victims and their families at their place. Do research with professors, academicians, intellectuals, journalists and scholars. This give ample idea of the story development and the texts thereafter. I do develop a research texts before commencement of the shoot, to make a storyboard.
Each work – commercial or documentary, is a passion to me and hence I do work accordingly.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I began the border story I have little money for the project. So I stayed with victim’s family . As story is around the international border many times the security forces arrested me and deported to the city. Again I back to the place and did the work. In 2015 April, I was at the Bangladesh border where I was arrested and deported. Back again at the same location I completed the work
During a commercial shoot, the camera did malfunction, and without delay, I send a car to the rental agency, on a holiday paying extra from own, have a second camera to continue the shoot.
For a documentary in a remote village in Bihar state, on gender violence, the villagers objected the shoot. I was adamant to complete the project, without the police intervention I spoken to them and did the shooting.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

To develop a visual narratives on the Post Colonial Study and Gender Violence is driving me. Post Colonial study of Bengal not happen in the visual languages as there are hundreds of book available. This creativity I undertook in 2015 and continuing. About Gender Violence, I seen closely violence on women and how they forced to comply, and many times with the will of the family. I have witnessed early marriage of girls and opting for prostitution, to lessen the family’s food burden. My experience deepen me to do visual study on the chosen themes.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://parthassg31.wixsite.com/parthasengupta-1
• Instagram: parthasg
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/partha.sengupta.31

Image Credits
Partha Sarathi Sengupta