The Lensman's Journal

Freeze all motor functions ©SoumyadipM

“You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.”― Ansel Adams

I'm typing, like Jack Nicholson in the shining, kidding, I'm not losing my mind (Though I may). You're about to read my first ever journal, Just sit back, breath in and breath out, and read it slowly.
There is nothing much to do nowadays as a Microbial life form has put all of us under house arrest. Still In this quarantine full of blues I've completed almost 18 movies, 8 TV-series and finished reading 5 books (6th one is running though, Fahrenheit 451), So much cliche...So I thought to do something new, A "Mann ki Baat" Blogger version.
That is the actual definition of a blog, I know right! .Now don't ask me why NAMO is not using blogger, cause I don't know and I don't wanna know either.
This lockdown is really hard for many people, I mean to look into the newspapers (not social media status) the real danger is that people are not only dying because of a virus but the socioeconomic structure. Maybe we're blessed with hundredth times more luxury or comfortability than those people, I know our need for going outside is nothing in front of their needs too, but a void is a void and a need is a need, maybe a little more or a little less, we are all just living and breathing but the difference is in perspective. The way we look into our respective lives.
For a photographer or for an artist their work is everything for them. For them maybe it's a consolation or solitude or an escape or profession, you name it. As I'm a street photographer my actual art is "On-the-go".
I really miss going outside Clicking pictures of those streets and the life playing a part in it...I miss talking to a random stranger for direction or for a picture...
I miss that crowded Dharmatala, sunrise in Maidan, boarding tram from Girish park, snacks at Shyambazar more, Cha at Ahiritola ghat and the sunset with a crunchy solace at Mullick ghat, in short, all the parts of kolkata... But we're playing a role for the wellness of not only our city but the entire country by staying at home. That's what matters most right now. "Life finds a way".

Quarantined boat, ©SoumyadipM

This was the first picture that I've taken in quarantine, many photographers were doing macro photography and I don't have a macro lens, so I thought Something out of the box and I found my imagination inside a bottle, the concept was pretty easy peasy,  A boat cannot be contained inside a bottle just like human life, but it was and it is happening, a boat is getting contained so the human life, for the very need to keep one alive.
[This picture came 4th among hundreds of entries from throughout India in a quarantine theme photography contest conducted by "This is Kolkata" (one of the biggest photography page of Bengal) with some more accolades. and now this bottle photography is a trend ..And I'm really glad that this happened].

Home pattern, ©SoumyadipM

Life playing a part, @SoumyadipM

Among the few architecture photographies that I've taken, This building is Just in front of my house and I never thought about these symmetries before... it's like you don't observe these small details in a particular because you are attracted to something fancier or you won't appreciate the small things until or unless you ran out of so-called big pieces of stuff. This is when life will ask you some questions and guess what or who gonna save you ?! These small things.
[These two pictures were recognized and featured by 3 respected and oldest photography communities of Kolkata ..And I want to say thanks to them, really it means a lot]

Agathokakological, ©SoumyadipM

Agathokakological,  an ancient Greek word... It means something which is composed of both good and bad.  It was a rainy day, thunders were raging like Thor getting transported from Asgard or Batman and Superman were fighting somewhere,
So I took out my camera configured the exposure triangle and waited on the rooftop for some cool sparks of thunder through the clouds. For an hour I was there like a sniper looking through the viewfinder, and the pentaprism reflections frozen by the sensor really disappointed me, it was at that time the precipitation just paused and we were introduced to a mesmerizing Rainbow, it's been years since I last saw a rainbow, my mother was there with my little sister she was describing her what a rainbow is, brother was busy taking a snap of that scene and my shutter speed recorded all of it.
came down, hopped into my laptop and created this story using photoshop, and it really worked out. Like Martin Tyler says in FIFA 19 "patience is the name of the game".

Surrealism, ©SoumyadipM

A very recent one saw that cloud with those sparking inside its belly like alan walker or marshmallow's concert, so I snapped (you know I'm at that stage of quarantine where I will capture each and everything that will attract my eyes). Later that evening, "The night we met" by Lord Huron was playing in my headphone when I saw a big fat moon (just like my tummy after spending 50 days in quarantine) almost red in colour, found it cute, Snapped. Thought what if I merged all of them in one picture ..Tadaaa.. found this surrealistic world
I don't know whether these pictures are good or bad or pathetic I just know I've created them and I was happy. I enjoyed it. Self-satisfaction is the biggest award for an artist.
There are so many photographers right now, so many newcomers, sometimes they DM me on insta and almost all of them had this one question in common  "Dada how to know which frame to capture ?!" ..I tell them, in this ever-mutating world where feelings can get easily decomposed we photographers are the preservatives or the label on the bottle that says "Keep it away from direct sunlight", we don't have the antidote for ageing but still we can stop the metastasis of time. A memory can live longer than Melisandre in GOT. Maybe some or sixty years from now maybe you will be all in wrinkles or suffering from the pain of arthritis or diabetes and accidentally you will find that old album or the gallery folder, surely you will start wondering in it like an alien in a new planet, you will stop at some of those frames and involuntarily you will laugh. At that moment your feelings will be constant, keeping your age in X-axis. We are bound to deliver that "Smilobility" at any point of time, I asked them a question at the end, and I will ask you the same, "Tell me which frame should we capture ?!"
But Sometimes you should put your camera aside, observe your surrounding without the distraction of lens. Just look around once in a while, feel that ethereal presence. We should maintain the f-stop and ISO of our life, neither too dull nor too grains, but something in between to capture it with the high shutter speed of our mind. Maybe this is exactly what I'm missing right now.

“The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera. “
– Dorohea Lange

I rest my case, your honour.

If you've read all of it (not jump, cut and skip) then there is a comment section down below with some cool features. USE IT WISELY. as you are reading my blog I assumed you'll understand this.

I hope you're safe with your family, friends and loved ones
I hope you're maintaining all the precaution guidelines
together we can overcome this
Till then stay safe, stay home and keep smiling.