cloud hunter by subhrajit basu

the-cloud-hunter


The Cloud Hunter by Subhrajit Basu

Website: subhrajitbasu.weebly.com

Published on March 15, 2009 by burn magazine. 187 Comments

187 Responses to “cloud hunter by subhrajit basu”

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  • Herve
    March 16, 2009 at 5:38 pm

    Kathleen, is there any way, thru your own photos, we can see what you mean by

    “Because for me, and i´m talking ME, guys..it´s ALL about the people, the individual..that´s pretty much all i care about”.

    I googled your name, found 13 pictures at usefilm.com, but they are actually not of people (OK, one sleeping, shot from above, far) and the rest, depending strongly on composition, not chance or chaos, quite as a painter would arrange colors and volumes on a canvas.

    When feeling strongly about someone’s output, adding how you see, feel, prefer, etc… it is fair of us to ask you to illustrate your point with your own work, no?

  • panos skoulidas
    March 16, 2009 at 6:06 pm

    so,…. Herve, what if Kathleen wasn’t a photographer at all….
    Shouldnt she have an opinion?

    How about go here instead of trying to be a detective chasing Kathleen around… be a gentleman:
    http://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2008/12/panos-skoulidas-venice-beach/#comments
    ( click on play )

    :)))))))))))))))

  • Mike R
    March 16, 2009 at 6:09 pm

    Subhrajit,

    David B says “keep doing what you do my friend” – good advice – make it personal.

    Love your work, be yourself,

    Mike.

  • panos skoulidas
    March 16, 2009 at 6:20 pm

    “…make it personal…”.
    yes Mike… thats my point …
    you are even “shorter” than me!
    oh, oh 4.20 in LA

  • panos skoulidas
    March 16, 2009 at 6:21 pm

    ..i meant more eloquent , and to the point..
    :))))))))))
    still 4.20

  • Herve
    March 16, 2009 at 6:41 pm

    WEll, ok if she is not, Panos and maybe what she does, doesn’t easily show it’s “about the people”, though She is all about people herself, and I do believe her (1). Therefore, it doesn’t have to show in Subhajit’s pictures, or any of us, that it’s all about the people for him too.

    (1)Here on Burn, I hardly see that for anyone, it is not about the people, photographer or not, all the time.

    Maybe she could illustrate then with an another photographer, within the same range of work (travel, ethnic, life is hard but beautiful, Nature meets man, that type of images).

  • panos skoulidas
    March 16, 2009 at 6:42 pm

    … now , check this out Subhrajit…
    if you would yell, or shout to that fisherman and create some kind of emotion…
    i would then say that you “made it personal”… then i would love it… not just a postcard!
    You know what i mean? you got already down all the techniques , exposures, everything…
    “emotion” and “connection” is thats its missing? Now its closed, i feel im watching through
    a tube or a tv or from faraway…:(
    Its the unexpected, the unfinished thats missing… IT IS YOU….

  • kathleen fonseca
    March 16, 2009 at 6:59 pm

    HERVE

    i should not even dignify your post with a response since if i was a painter, sculptor, collector, editor auto mechanic or housewife i would still have the same right you do to my own opinion.

    However, since for some reason you seem to think i must defend my right to think about or feel the power of a photograph here´s a link. i have no idea if it will work because i have never provided it before, nor have i tried it. But if it doesn´t work, go to altphotos.com do a search for ´dyathink´

    http://altphotos.com/Gallery.aspx?&a=MemberGallery&memberid=1319

    One more thing, since i have only been shooting for ten years and the, what, five photos you unearthed at Usefilm were shot in 2004, they would seem to be a not altogether reliable source of data for your study of my critical capacities.

    My opinion and respect for you just went way down. Too bad too.

    best anyway
    kat-

  • kathleen fonseca
    March 16, 2009 at 7:19 pm

    Herve:

    Please forgive my snarkey response. The link i provided works. I just tried it. I really think your post was uncalled for and it makes me feel really, really bad if you want to know the truth. i really shouldn´t have to defend my written critique of this photo with show-and-tell examples from my own work. Furthermore, i gave Salgado as an example of the kind of work in this same genre that i admire. Maybe you were too busy googling my name to read my post all the way through. But that´s ok..maybe once you go to altphotos you´ll see i do put my money where my mouth is.

    kat

  • panos skoulidas
    March 16, 2009 at 7:19 pm

    Herve,
    I envy you!
    You r doing your dental work in Thailand???
    how much is it for a “grille” 50cent style ?
    in Thailand?
    :)))))

  • kathleen fonseca
    March 16, 2009 at 7:37 pm

    HERVE

    and one more thing..haha..man, you wound me up now..i first saw this guy´s work at Altphotos and was blown away. He, singlehandedly, changed my way of thinking about photography. Well, not exactly changed it but galvanized it. The way i reacted to his photos (most particularly his photography in India) was so powerful because i had been for years looking and looking at people and suddenly i knew why. His name is Stefan Rohner and he is a Magnum photographer, or used to be anyway. He was my very first hero and he encouraged me and for that i am forever grateful.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/42743731@N00/

    so there´s another example for you. i do not come to this passion for people and street lightly, Herve. When i say it´s everything to me, take that to the bank. i may shoot nature once in awhile because it balances the stress of the things i see and deal with in Central America but at the end of the day, it´s people that rock my rickshaw.

    have i adequately replied to your inquiry? man i hope so.

    kat

  • Gracie
    March 16, 2009 at 7:38 pm

    what is it with you guys, you’re scaring the wannabes. so if i dont like a picture if it gives me bad vibes coz im an idjit in photography, i have to prove it?

    luvs all around please. this is about talking about one thing we all love: LOVE PEACE PHOTOGRAPHY…

    that means three things… sorry. gotta get some grub.

    (pssst… bodo… i think your pictures just again has oodles and oodles of RESPECT towards the people you photograph. seeping through the pixels, showing through the pores. natgeo style or otherwise, these pictures are totally yours because you made them… nobody else in this site can claim they did. more power.)

  • kathleen fonseca
    March 16, 2009 at 7:42 pm

    HERVE

    and one more thing..haha..man, you wound me up now..i first saw this guy´s work at Altphotos and was blown away. He, singlehandedly, changed my way of thinking about photography. Well, not exactly changed it but galvanized it. The way i reacted to his photos (most particularly his photography in India) was so powerful because i had been for years looking and looking at people and suddenly i knew why. His name is Stefan Rohner and he is a Magnum photographer, or used to be anyway. He was my very first hero and he encouraged me and for that i am forever grateful.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/42743731@N00/

    so there´s another example for you. i do not come to this passion for people and street lightly, Herve. When i say it´s everything to me, take that to the bank. i may shoot nature once in awhile because it balances the stress of the things i see and deal with in Central America but at the end of the day, it´s people.

    have i adequately replied to your inquiry? man i hope so.

    kat

  • panos skoulidas
    March 16, 2009 at 7:42 pm

    Kathleen,
    Stefan Rohner is ( or used to ) a regular
    blogger here… and sorry.,never been a magnum photographer…
    just for the history…
    :)

  • david b
    March 16, 2009 at 8:01 pm

    love that bubbling sea…

  • panos skoulidas
    March 16, 2009 at 8:09 pm

    … where the hell is Jim?…

  • david b
    March 16, 2009 at 8:12 pm

    fishing.
    2.12am.
    night.
    d

  • panos skoulidas
    March 16, 2009 at 8:14 pm

    fishing?
    what?
    how?
    where?
    ?

  • Mark Tomalty
    March 16, 2009 at 8:36 pm

    http://altphotos.com/Gallery.aspx?&a=MemberGallery&memberid=1319

    Now was that so difficult?

    To be honest,I had a similar thought as Herve. Not that I wanted to see ‘proof’ of your
    legitimacy to put forward your opinions but rather to see ‘where’ those opinions are coming from.

    You have, seemingly, a very defined opinion as to what constitutes a good photograph and are quite
    eloquent at presenting said opinion.
    I think it’s only natural that some, who don’t know you, might be curious.

  • kathleen fonseca
    March 16, 2009 at 8:37 pm

    Panos?

    Really? Stefan never was a Magnum photog? wow..now this is going back years since i first saw his work at altphotos so i don’t know where i got my info but it was pretty widely assumed that he was with Magnum and if he wasn’t well then, hmm..i have no idea how the legend began. Thanks for setting me straight on that score though it doesn’t change how i feel/felt about his work in India nor about the encouragement he gave me in the tiniest ways at a time when it made all the difference to me. Oh yeah, and about the other thing, thanks, guy..

    Gracie..

    your a sweetie, did i ever tell you that?

  • Mark Tomalty
    March 16, 2009 at 8:42 pm

    Panos wrote,
    ” you would yell, or shout to that fisherman and create some kind of emotion…
    i would then say that you “made it personal”… then i would love it… not just a postcard!”

    Right…. and that emotion would be completely artificial and disruptive to the subject.
    Do all the Magnum photogs run around shouting at their subjects to provoke a respones?

    Subhrajit has already personalized the image in the style of his photography.

    I think the problem some people have is that he has not personalized it in THEIR styles

  • kathleen fonseca
    March 16, 2009 at 9:08 pm

    Panos, some people shoot life like they’re looking through a microscope at it, like it’s this peculiar state of being that’s done by everyone else, that when the camera is in front of their face they are not also participating, they’re separate with their machine recording everything. Like looking through a peep-hole in a fence. You are very much a force and a presence both in and out of your frames so it makes sense that you would engage the fisherman. I would not shout at him, but i would be watching his facial expressions to hopefully catch the right moment with enough of the net in the frame to let the viewer know what he’s doing but the photo wouldn’t be about the net or the ocean or the sky. It would ideally contain his look of determination, hope, boredom, frustration, distraction, happiness, whatever. Something else to tell me more about him. Right now he’s an anonymous person tossing a net. AND THAT’S OK! BUT IT’S NOT ENOUGH TO MAKE ME BUY A BOOK OR A MAGAZINE. Phew..like Patrica says, thank heavens we can all look at a photograph and have our own opinions and reactions…it’s all good!

    best
    kat~

  • Haik
    March 16, 2009 at 9:21 pm

    Mark,
    what Panos is saying that photo has no emotional connection with the subject. I ll say that this exact photo could have been shot with a 600mm without even getting wet.
    It’s a very eye pleasing photo but it stops right there.
    As part of a story, or a diptich. With other photo(s) having the “contact” – maybe.

    Cheers all – 3 hours since 4:20 have passed.

  • Gracie
    March 16, 2009 at 9:33 pm

    kat,

    you be calling me no names now…. i know a bit more kung fu than photography… ayyyyayyyahh!

    panos,

    you haven’t said, did you get frieda some 2/$5 ice cream?

  • panos skoulidas
    March 16, 2009 at 9:43 pm

    Gracie…
    we are all i scream-ed now…
    you were right!

  • Gracie
    March 16, 2009 at 9:50 pm

    hahaha.

    im glad she’s better. even though you’re crazy (by whoever’s definition, yours, or mine since this website is about defining definitions) i now think you’re way cool.

    nut scared bout you no more. spring is here. i put my steel raincoat away. wink.

    takin up your offer. we shall meet one day.

  • Herve
    March 16, 2009 at 10:25 pm

    Listen, Kathleen, I read what you wrote, that excerpt that I reproduced in my post. To me, it seemed you talked about your own photography, that’s all.

    As for opinion of me, give me a break. you don’t know me and know little about me. Now, and before. All cordially said.

  • wrobertangell
    March 16, 2009 at 10:29 pm

    Subhrajit,
    i am really enjoying your photograph, i find it to be a picture i want to look at, thats also the kind of wonderful light that I like to shoot in, beautiful color. the net looks organic.
    nice work, tried to follow the link but no joy?

    best,

  • Jim Powers
    March 16, 2009 at 10:53 pm

    … where the hell is Jim?…

    Standing in an emergency room watching my best friend (next to my wife) die. Suddenly and without warning. A special person. Sorry folks, just needed to mark the occasion in some way. Too many funerals, too many sad rhymes.

    No need to respond it this. There is nothing left to say.

  • Herve
    March 16, 2009 at 10:56 pm

    Why didn’t you make available your work available, Kathleen (tru the name/link)? Is there something wrong or sneaky, googling a name? I don’t get it….. Bah, never mind.

    Salgado’s work took place in very specific locales, for very photo-journalistic intentions. That could be a next step for Subhajit. You see, we should be here to encourage people, not dsmiss their work as “sorry, perfect but not for me”. Subhajit got the chops to do very good work, and he does have a humanistic approach. Like probably all of us, he is in his learning curve, a work in progress. Just because he shoots pretty shots, IYO, doesn’t mean he will do only that all his life. Thru BURN, and others, he will get exposed to different trends,, see other possibilities for his [photography, question himself, etc…

    That is what we are supposed to do with each other, not pass final judgement.

    Rohner..Magnum?…. you got me here! :-))))

    IMO.

  • subhrajit
    March 16, 2009 at 11:00 pm

    ALL…
    It is just morning here in India and I just finished going through the comments. I shall reply to each and every one of them, but I need some time and right now I have to run…to work, to earn money so that I can continue my photography. But I want to thank you ALL, my friends, for your valuable inputs. Probably this thread has taught me more about ‘real’ photography more than anything else since the day I took up the camera because it directly relates and refers to my work.

    My site is reportedly undergoing some unscheduled maintenance. This is the message from the site:

    Notification Alerts From Weebly
    Weebly is currently undergoing some unscheduled maintenance. Your published website will temporarily be unavailable while we work as fast as possible to resolve this problem. If you are editing your site, you’ll also notice that your pictures are temporarily unavailable. We greatly apologize for the inconvenience this downtime causes you.

  • kathleen fonseca
    March 16, 2009 at 11:05 pm

    Jim..

    I am so sorry to hear this terrible news about your friend. So terribly sorry. My condolences to you and his family. May he rest in peace.

    my very best:

    kathleen

  • kathleen fonseca
    March 16, 2009 at 11:56 pm

    Herve:

    “When feeling strongly about someone’s output, adding how you see, feel, prefer, etc… it is fair of us to ask you to illustrate your point with your own work, no?”

    Actually, no, i don’t think that’s fair. My work has no bearing on my right to an educated opinion. And further, you didn’t ask me. If you had, i would have provided a link to a recent and relevant body of work. But instead, you googled me and found 13 really old photos and assumed they constituted the net sum of my photographic knowledge, experience and talent and posted your findings here so that i looked like a total dumbass. This is what disappointed me about you, Herve. It wasn’t very big of you.

    “Like probably all of us, he is in his learning curve, a work in progress.”

    Right, so Subhrajit is on a learning curve and i had better be REALLY nice to him (which i was) while you on the other hand are deciding that 13 photos taken in 2004 mean i couldn’t possibly know what i’m talking about in 2009? What happened to benefit of the doubt Herve? What happened to my learning curve? I don’t get one?

    I am noticing though, now that you’ve seen my work, that you no longer seem to have a problem with my right to have an opinion on spontaneous human interest photography only that i failed to adequately encourage Mr/Ms Subhrajit. Note to self, include encouragement qualifier with all opinions of a controversial nature.

    kat~

  • young tom
    March 17, 2009 at 12:09 am

    Children, children! Seriously, this is beyond tedious.

    Loved the photo though. Obviously Subhrajit is deeply committed and a class act to boot. I look forward to seeing more of his work in the future, and maybe the results of his riskier, looser work as well.

  • wendy
    March 17, 2009 at 12:14 am

    JIM
    my thoughts are with you…
    I wish your friend well on his journey…
    peace to you..
    all of you..
    **

  • kathleen fonseca
    March 17, 2009 at 12:15 am

    young tom

    fair enough

  • kathleen fonseca
    March 17, 2009 at 12:36 am

    ALL

    Sorry everyone and my apologies DAH for my part of this..can’t believe i got pulled into such a petty dialogue. dumb-me.

    Keep shooting, keep discussing..keep enjoying BURN..

    I am totally embarrassed..

    bye4now..
    kat~

  • Herve
    March 17, 2009 at 12:42 am

    Ah, the wake is over….. (smirk)

    I did not say anything disparaging about your 13 photos, and I never assumed that was the sum of your work, just what I had about you for now (I checked lightstalkers too, no photos there it seemed). It’s rather plain to understand.

    I don’t buy about the Sneakiness of using google. If I had to look for hours, obsessively, yes, but it took a minute. I did not even open your thumbnails, and I did not unearth, or mention anything personal about you. Where do you see I made some final judgement about your work? Or even have any interest to do so now? Let’s see if David brings it up as an entry, then I will discuss, along with others, on it….

    And I said that I believe you are about people. I believe we all are, here. read, it’s there.

  • kathleen fonseca
    March 17, 2009 at 1:40 am

    HERVE

    *kiss*..peace..or piece..whatever turns you on..

    best
    kat~

  • kathleen fonseca
    March 17, 2009 at 2:11 am

    Mark Tomalty

    just saw your earlier post..yes actually, it WAS difficult. You have no idea. i am more comfortable in public with words. My pictures are way more private for some inexplicable reason. Herve blindsided me and i lost my head. i really do apologize to everyone, especially Subhrajit and Herve of course. i feel like such a jerk. Next up will be a Lightstalkers Gallery. Promise. :)

    g’night all..hey, GRACIE!—zzzzzzzzz—

    kat

  • david alan harvey
    March 17, 2009 at 3:39 am

    SUBRAHJIT…

    i would like to meet you…if we cannot do this in person, i would like for you to be one of the five photographers i will be working with behind the scenes in the coming weeks …right now i am working with David B., Lassal and Jonanthan H….i will be very busy between now and the announcement of the EPF grantee, but if we start an e-exchange (and can Skype?) i think that even online we can create a personal essay for you of which all here will be proud….let’s work together to take you to your next level…please let me know if you are interested…

    DAVID B…

    i will try to Skype you in the next two days for our first clear edit….i did hear a rumor that maybe you could come to Spain now..????

    cheers, david

  • Mike R
    March 17, 2009 at 4:51 am

    Subhrajit, E-mentoring by DAH! Congratulations. If everyone here thinks Nat Geo already; just imagine what “next level” is going to look like. And all from publishing one photograph: go for it my friend!

    Panos “You are even “shorter” than me!” you can be sure of that Mr P. I once had to describe myself to someone who I was going to meet at a motorway service station in order to sell him a camera. It went thus: “Shortish, fatish, baldish; and devastatingly attractive to women”. It worked, he recognized me straight away!

    Jim P, I’m sorry.

    Best to all,

    Mike.

  • david b
    March 17, 2009 at 7:41 am

    JIM

    that is terrible news..thoughts go out to you and yours and them and theirs..
    chin up friend – we have all leaned on this forum in one way or another over time..

    david AH

    it looked possible, although we are now looking at taking a month in the balkens.. i have 3 days work there and figured if i could turn it into a month and bring top cat and beate i could do more work towards and for the young people getting over war with music project..
    and swim.
    and sun.

    david

  • bobblack
    March 17, 2009 at 7:48 am

    Jim:

    I am sorry to hear about your friend. All we can do, ever, is the recognize they are, were, will always be part of us….and for that, i wish you strenth

    sincerely
    bob

  • david b
    March 17, 2009 at 7:52 am

    regarding the photo here – it’s been interesting seeing different perceptions of it..

    i see the photo as a landscape.. or seascape with sky.. more than a portrait of a fisherman.. it’s the blending of the net, sky and boiling sea which i saw first in the photo much more than the guy fishing.. which is why i think it is a success.. if i were to look at it as a portrait of a fisherman it would be less successful for sure..
    david

  • Patricia Lay-Dorsey
    March 17, 2009 at 8:23 am

    With you, Jim. What a sad loss. Friends are precious.

    Patricia

  • bodo (subhrajit)
    March 17, 2009 at 8:26 am

    ALL…
    Can you guys call me ‘Bodo’? This is what I am known to my friends…and here we are friends now…Patricia has already accepted me as one now!

    MR HARVEY…
    After reading and re-reading your message several times (just to be 100% sure of what I was reading) and asking myself thousand times not to show my actual emotions while writing this reply, I have come out with a simple answer: Yes! I am interested…very much! And I want to thank you for the offer. I shall wait for further communications on this.

  • kathleen fonseca
    March 17, 2009 at 9:09 am

    Bodo, this is wonderful news for you! Congratulations!!! i look forward to what i know will be spectacular work from you..this is very exciting!

    best~
    kat

  • Gracie
    March 17, 2009 at 9:11 am

    “such respect seeps through the pixels and through the pores”

    respect begets more. congratulations.

    (psst, gmornin kat)

  • kathleen fonseca
    March 17, 2009 at 9:54 am

    Gracie…

    hey, girl..have a cup of tea and a smile

    :))))

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