Retro Kolkata : First of all Heartiest congratulations for your selection in Retro Kolkata Magazine Green Edition. Please introduce yourself. Tell us about your background.
Abhishek Basak : I, Abhishek Basak, Kolkata based People, Travel & Documentary photographer. I have loved photography since childhood but i started it 5years back and it has been an endless journey filled with infinite learning experience. I organize different Photo tours & Workshop. Teach Photography & Post Processing. I am a photography teacher of a renowned school in Kolkata. My photography has been exhibited & awarded in more than 110 countries around the world & got 27 times Best Photographer Award from different international competitions held in France, Luxembourg, Serbia, Bulgaria, Belgium, Ukraine, Slovakia ,etc.. I also got more than 50 Best photographer awards in National Competitions. I have received more than 1400 Awards in National & International Photo Competition. My photographs are also published in different prestigious Magazines and Newspapers like, VOGUE, Nat Geo, Asian photo magazine, Chiiz, Viewfinder, The Guardian etc. This year I also Won 2nd prize in the EISA MAESTRO national competition organized by Smart photography Magazine.
Retro Kolkata : How important is photography to you? How did you start photography?
Abhishek Basak : Photography is the love of my life.Through my lens I capture the moments and translate them into art. From the very early days itself I liked photography, 5yrs back I purchased a DSLR camera NIKON D5300 with 18-140mm kit lens, this formally became the stepping stone of my full-fledged photography journey.
Retro Kolkata : What motivates and inspires you as a photographer?
Abhishek Basak : Social media is full of beautiful photos, watching these developed my love towards photography. This affection towards different and unique photographs made me choose photography as my profession. Eagerness to click something new, which has not been done in the past, motivates me to push myself. Every photography guru and their work inspire me as a photographer.
Retro Kolkata : Which genre of photography do you like and What inspires you? Which masters of photography have inspired you in your photographic work?
Abhishek Basak : From the start I tried my hand in all the genres of photography with some success and a lot of learning. For the last 3 years I mainly work on TRIBES, FESTIVAL & documentary photography.
There is no particular Master of photography who inspires me the most, all good works from different masters inspire me.
Retro Kolkata : What type of camera, lenses and lighting equipment do you use?
Abhishek Basak : Now I have NIKON Z6 II and NIKON D750 with Tamron 24-70, 2.8 and Tamron 15-30 ,2.8 lenses
I mainly use natural light sources in my photography.
Retro Kolkata : What subjects inspire you and prompt you to look for the shot?
Abhishek Basak : Any uniqueness of a subject for eg : blue/green eyes, wrinkled skin, dirty Face, big eyes, curly or bouncy hair, long moustache, long beard etc.
Any activity going on during festivals or on the street prompts me to go for a shot.
Retro Kolkata : Do you prefer black and white shots or colour?
Abhishek Basak : I always click in colour, in post processing i make it black and white
Retro Kolkata : What is the best project you have worked on and how did you get involved with it?
Abhishek Basak : Look my work is going on, assignment after assignment i am growing as a photographer. It is difficult to choose one of my projects to be best, I rather think my best project is still to come in the future.
Retro Kolkata : Where would you like to be in 10 years time and what are you going to do in the next 6 months to get closer to that goal?
Abhishek Basak : Whatever i am learning, Photography or photo editing, i want to teach that to others. Want to become a dedicated Photography teacher and teach people. In the long run I want to build a Photography Institution, where I can teach, inspire and motivate many others to photography. It's my dream that these Photographers from my institute will click pictures which will be remembered by the world and this will define me as a photographer.
Lastly, I would like to thank all of those people who have supported me and still support me in this beautiful journey.
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