Kaushik Dolui, please introduce yourself

Hi, I am Kaushik Dolui, born in Howrah, West Bengal, India. I am  graduated and completed a Master Degree in Economics from Calcutta University. In my childhood days I did drawing and painting,  later in my mid-twenties I developed an interest in photography and completed a photography courses. Presently I am a pictorial and fine art photographer.

Where do you live, does your place of residence inspire you to take pictures?

Currently I am working  and living in Kolkata, a populous metropolitan city of India. I think to take people- or street photography. Kolkata is one of the best, but in my early days I participated too much mountain treks cum expedition that inspired me much to take a snap of the massive Himalaya mountains. At present, when I look back, I think all my thought processes came from this enormity.   

Do you have a photographic background?

I completed a photography course, during the period of analog era. Earlier for two/three years casually I used to send photographs to different national/ international salons but without any success. My first international acceptance came from a FIAP salon of Hongkong in the year 2005. Slowly I started thinking about it seriously and decided to move on further. Later I participated in different photographic salons under FIAP and PSA patronages and won many awards/acceptances over the time and received Excellence FIAP Honors from Federation de l’Art Photographique in 2009.  

How comes that you are interested in photography?

It’s a continuous and changing process. I already told, I was more interested in mountain photography and the inhabitants of these places, mainly their life styles, their daily activities etc. Later I realized, photography is an art, which can reflect reality in the early days, now we can fabricate it entirely in our times, by setting off reactions and emotions, by appealing to the imagination of the viewer who will re-create it in his/her own thought and sometimes one can find a new meaning to their life.

Which photographer has inspired your photography?

There were so many, from whom I was influenced, In the beginning there are some that leave me something to think about, namely Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ansel Adams, Raghu Rai etc. Later we have lots of freedom when it comes to digital technology in photography. The difference between painting and photography is much reduced in our days. Every day I see lots of images/ paintings and in our time it is difficult to say from whom I was inspired.

Why do you work in black and white / color?

I worked in both. But at present I prefer black and white images much as black and white images can enhance the subject (what I want to show the viewer) without any color disturbance but rich vibrant color always attracts me. 

How do you prepare for a photo?

The first thing I do is to find a concept and sometimes it came to my mind when I am simply walking on a road. I always try to feel everything very closely as a sensitive person in our day to day life. Later I capture or try to construct the same (series) through digital editing. Many ideas come and go, some leave deep impression what motivates me to do something in future.

What is your technique and the creation process?

Over the time I always wanted to create something new and in a broad sense something new to this world, not just capture an image or not stealing from reality. I have developed my own style where I can establish my feelings more intensely. I always tried to capture the photographic elements in such a way that later I can develop my dreams, self-expression in a unique way. I try to convey a quiet stillness of emotion with a deep thought to the natural surroundings creating the unique vision. I never tried to stick any rules or styles for a long time. I believe, over the time everything changes and it also affects the thinking of composition in photography.

Which projects would you like to tackle?

I worked on many projects and many times (year wise) those were featured in Monovisionawards, iphotographeroftheyear (silver-award 2017), photoawards, ndawards, fineartphotoawards, 35awards, photographize magazine (issue no 38) , px3, tzipac, fotodng, 1x, moscowfotoawards,  Annualphotoawards, DNG Magazine(Issue no-156), thecrazymind, jaamzin, Photoimaginart, monovisions (interview), Minimalist Photography Awards,  Tagree, theflyingfruitbowl  edgeofhumanity and  Gold winner in Tokyo foto awards 2018 (tifa) in fine art/collage category. But at the end of the day I love my artworks that close to my heart.

What do you do in your life besides photography?

I am working in a Govt sector and there is less scope to utilize my academic education. Being a student of economics in my early days , I am more interested in the financial sector activities, surely not for money but it gives me pleasure during my spare time. I enjoy watching good movies also.