Chapter 1, The revelation

My journey didn't start a long back, it was the summer of 2003 and i was in my 10th grade. Library was a usual place for me to hang out in the mornings during my summer vacation, picking up notes and clues for my social science assignment. Pretty mundane, huh! it was during that time i had first come in contact with a National Geographic magazine, I didn't realize but instantaneously drawn towards it like a fly towards a honey pot. I flipped through the issues like a 3yr old flips through a picture book. I was amazed to see full pages of life sized images of insects, tigers, birds, whales, continents and lives of people in far fetched countries, first time in my life i had this realization that photography was not just a medium of documentation of an event, but at the same time it was a celebration of life, a beautiful art form, a means to connect with people you've never seen. I spend the whole day sitting there and flipping through all the issues they had with them, the same day i came across the Afghan Girl by Steve Mc. Curry, she was a girl with the most wonderful eyes, and had become the image of Afghanistan for the western world.

I won't say that it was the day in my life that i decided to become a photographer, but yes sure i realized that i promised myself that i will someday pickup a slr camera and shoot something.

Four years later, i find myself in the cosmopolitan city of Bangalore, studying engineering, more like a dream come true for a small town boy. But this cosmopolitan religion of this town was the thing that reignited the fire of photography in me, I soon came in contact with various photography groups in the city, Bangalore Photography Club was one of them where i found various such self motivated enthusiasts who found time for photography even while working under high pressure IT jobs, they spoke in a language that inspired me to take up a camera.

It was though a painful time, with all the expectation of parents, to see me do well, take up a job in the IT, work 9 to 5 in front of a computer screen and selling the Americans some stupid software. Somewhere within me i felt i had a wild horse, that wouldn't let me live this life. So what did i do? I started saving up my pocket allowance to buy any cheapest camera available in the market big brands surely weren't an option for me. A year later I settled for a Olympus E500, a great camera that was to serve me for next two years of my photography infancy.

During these two years i learned a lot from various photographers, whether Indian or international. I was inspired by the simplistic, humane patriotic style of Raghu Rai's street life, the passion, artistry thought provoking portraits of Steve McCurry, the devotion and insight in Reza's style, or whether it be Ansel Adams who provoked a nation towards fragile ecosystem of yellow stone. I am also inspired by the new generation photographers like Joe Mc Nally, Chase Jarvis, Zach Arias, Ryan Lobo, Indian Fashion photographers like Atul Kasbekar, Daboo Ratnani, Jatin Kampani, Anirban Brahma.

I have always tried to pick a thing or two from them and i am developing a style that revolve around these people, sometimes i feel that there is a sense of guilt inside me that i don't have an original style, what ever i do is borrowed from someone.

I hope to move on the path of self discovery, and hope i figure out uniqueness in myself sometime soon.

Prologue

For a long time I have been thinking of writing a bolg, the reason being that most of my friends write one, and when you are writing one you kind of get into the so called elite group of literary people who have this ability to write creative stuff. But what should I write about, i am no literature student. When it comes to me to write something creative or poetic i might just have this retarded look on my face, and after a few hours of slogging i might be able come up with a couple of lines of rhyming sentences, sounding lame and blue.

Well so i am not a literature student i just made it clear, so let me introduce myself. I am Saumya Pratik, Final year student of Mechanical Engg. So the only thing creative i can do is find solutions to Newtonian Mechanics problem or turn a workpiece on lathe. I am also a serious amateur photographer, i am into this for about 3yrs now, and i hope someday I will take it up as a professional.

My Hobbies involve painting, cooking, trekking/ traveling, and listening to various kind of music, whether it be soft rock, classical, inidan, jazz, or rock and roll.

Basically in my blog I wish to write about photography, whatever I can or whatever I know, and whatever I am learning, because photography is something so close to my heart and that just a glimpse of a great photograph intrigues all my sense to the core.

Hope i succeed in this endeavor of mine and at the same time teach and learn a lot of new stuff to all.