This website displays my photographs in themes (pages) of Banaras published in my book Time in Banaras, of Urban Environment in Downtown of photographs of Kolkata And Other Happenings, my soon to be published book, Portraits being Some of my Friends I would Like You to Meet and Portfolio, of pictures not of any particular themes but from my minds eye!

In adolescence I found I could replicate the real world in my camera to create my own world. With this discovery I fell in love with photography a life long enigma that I have still to outgrow. As I grew up in Kolkata with an affection for its chaotic beauty, I also experienced of diversity of urban India. The unique experience and memory of this fascination is within me and my fondness of the space that is unique to me. DOWNTOWN was a  point of departure from my earlier themes of humanistic work towards an effort in bookmaking , seeking   to portray through  the  imagery of history, memory, imagination and sometimes with a soupçon of ambiguity

I chose to photograph here. An autodidact I read whatever I could on photography and in earlier days in 70s availability of published books were rare. Influenced by the work of of Bill Brandt ,Cartier Bresson, Lee Friedlander , Raghubir Singh and several others I found a new direction. I concentrated in black and white, trying to learn to recognise the subject, became sensitive about the light and the way these masters used the wide angle lens and the framed their picture. My work went through a sea change as I approached subjects on the street and moved away from pretty images.

I do hope you will like the pictures and form your own experience. Please do not forget to leave your comments .

Publications

In 2016 my book Time in Banaras was published from Kolkata containing black and white street photographs of Banaras. Dr Partha Mitter was kind enough to write the foreward.

Important exhibitions and shows.

Since then I have had more than 15 one man shows and a few group shows

My first one man show was held at the NCPA Gallery, in Mumbai in August 2000, People and Places comprising 50 black and white images. Outlook Magazine commented ” a must for those in business of collecting and taking photographs”

In later years participation included at Vadhera Gallery in 2009 in their show Click curated by Sunil Gupta, in 2010 at Gallery 21 (Cima) Annual Art Fair 2009, show curated by Christopher Taylor, , Participated in Contemporary Art Gallery show at Hong Kong,and Art Fair organised by the Birla Academy in 2014. In 2017 participated in the 50/50 Photography festival (15 photographs)organised by the Birla Academy and the Kolkata Photo festival in 2019.

PUBLICATIONS

Friday 22 March 2024

A review by Prosenjit Dasgupta of TIME IN BANARAS published in his blog

Impressions and Images of Banaras

The book “Time in Banaras – A visual journey” by Sumit Basu (published in 2016 by Supernova Publishers, New Delhi — hard-bound, priced at Rs. 1250) has come into my hands only recently. This comprises 92 black-and-white pictures of Banaras, the eternal city of India (affectionate called ‘Bana- Ras’ by Sumit, quoting that icon of the city, Ustad Bismillah Khan) as it largely was in 1980s and 90’s. Black-and-white picture nowadays are rare, and rarer still are these images that Sumit has taken over the last thirty or thirty-five years. They serve as a documentation of the city as well as a rich fare of images that serve to provide the ambience of Banaras, as seen through the eyes of a dedicated photographer.

As to the pictures themselves, a good number stand out. I found the following pictures particularly attractive – “Mass rites at Scindia Ghat” (1988), “Overflowing Banks” (1998) “Bharat Milap festival” (2001), “Sonarpura sehnai” (2008), “Raga Bahriravi” (2012), “Harijan cremation” (2009), “A widow in back alley”(2007), “A zarda shop” (2010), “A hpto-session at Assi Ghat” (2012), “Sunlight and shadows” (2012). These have brought out the richness of black-and white prints besides interest in the images themselves. But especially satisfying is the “Afterword” by Sumit that touches on everything that has attracted Bengalis to Banaras, from Swami Vivekanda to Saytajit Ray. That was a clear bonus.

DOWNTOWN , Kolkata and other Happenings published by Red Turtle, ( April 2024 t) edited by Soumya Shankar and Barnali Bose and superbly designed by them. With this book I venture into new area of bookmaking !

DOWNTOWN Kolakata and Other Happenings.