Retro Kolkata : First of all Heartiest congratulations for your selection in Retro Kolkata Magazine Green Edition. Please introduce yourself. Tell us about your background.
Siddique: Good day, everyone! My name is Sk Siddique Ali, I live in Kolkata. I am a Bcom student with a passion for photography... I was born and brought up Kolkata, among these beautiful heritage buildings and roads, where each lane tells a little story and hides so many childhood memories.
Retro Kolkata : How important is photography to you? How did you start photography?
Siddique: Photography is my heartbeat; I love photography.... Every time I click a picture that I like, it puts a smile to my face and makes me happy.... My father was a photographer, and I remember seeing cameras and playing with them as a child. As I grew up, I started taking in photography, starting from a point and shoot to mobile and now on DSLR.
Retro Kolkata : What motivates and inspires you as a photographer?
Siddique: In my life, photography helps me to see things that most people cannot... It allows me to explore unexplored places through my lenses and inspires me to run through India's old lanes, discovering their stories.... Its help me to know new people, their history and their stories.
Retro Kolkata : Which genre of photography do you like and What inspires you? Which masters of photography have inspired you in your photographic work?
Siddique: I mostly like street photography and portrait photography. Mainly exploring the streets helps me to learn about the history of the places and portrait photography helps me to learn their culture and there ethics….I have been inspired by many people’s work but sir Vineet Vohra’s work have inspired me the most.
Retro Kolkata : What type of camera, lenses and lighting equipment do you use?
Siddique: I use canon 200d mark II and for lens I mainly prefer 18-55mm for general purposes , 50mm for portrait and 55-250mm for long range…
Retro Kolkata : What subjects inspire you and prompt you to look for the shot?
Siddique: In portrait photography, mainly people with diverse cultural value and ethics inspire the shot, searching for a story in my shot is the most important for me…every picture should tell their own story
Retro Kolkata : Do you prefer black and white shots or colour?
Siddique: It depends on the picture itself , some time black and white tells the story, a colour picture can’t and some the vibrant colours of picture tell the beautiful story, a black and white picture can’t .
Retro Kolkata : What is the best project you have worked on and how did you get involved with it?
Siddique: So far, for me as a passionate photographer the biggest project will be working with Retro Kolkata…It all started with Instagram when I saw a post of Retro Kolkata.
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?
Siddique: For me, in coming 10 years, I would like to be a photographer who can explore the world through the lens of the camera and improving myself as much as I can..…I would start learning more and more about photography and work more on polishing my skills until I get it right.
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