In this era of gadgets, the mobile has transformed itself into a necessity and magically enough, also a tool to show our creative side. Breaking all misconceptions of limiting a photographer to only one his tool i.e. a DSLR, Uncommon photographer Sujoy Barua charters his own path through mobile photography and showing Photo Tales.
“Mobilography is a term that’s new, catchy and cute- also, you can say the new trend with many mobile brands levelling up their camera game in the market.”
Where there are still few people who think that photography is restricted by its tools, this young talent has executed innovative themes with the help of his mobile.
‘NETTED’ was Sujoy’s first attempt at making a series where he was serious about the idea behind it. It was not pre-planned and nor did he ever think of making it until on his one specific bus ride back home.
The bus on his way back home luckily was covered in posters and from the inside they formed a net like effect on all the sights outside.
“The pictures were unconventional as there was a layer of net between the outside surroundings and my phone lens. But that was the whole point of clicking such pictures with the reason mainly being ‘breaking the normal laws of photography and combing the fields of photography in one picture.”
The series may seem difficult and many may think it included planning and thoughtful execution but, in reality it was my regular photography seen through a net with a bored and frustrated mind which was out in the sun for long.
This was a fun experiment for a budding photographer with wild ideas as he had no one to offend, no one to challenge and could freely explore all aspects of photography. Breaking the rules included the presence of one or more prominent subjects which he completely destroyed bringing in the net. Minimalism insists on focusing on one subject and completely ignoring others for the betterment of the photo, which he broke by including the street as the background.
# Stall-ed Life !
Abandoned stalls and colours soothing the eye. Not many will click a picture without a major subject, but that’s all this series was all about. Focused mainly on keeping one stall inside the frame as the bus was moving.
# Monochrome Maiden
This photograph was taken in black and white because the colours were not right and that is where monochrome helps. Here he focused mainly on the lady abiding by the rule of one-thirds.
# Retro Feels
Capturing the essence of a sunny day though made black and white as an experiment with moods, making it look like an early 80s shot focusing on people and slightly visible shadows.
# Crowd and chaos through the Net
A more vibrant crowd, mainly of parents outside a NEET centre. Sujoy says he was lucky to capture this keeping the main focus on the crowd and atmosphere of tension as the traffic is equally crowded.
# Life through the net!
Unclear background and focus on net. Perfect minimal.
Mobile photography was never Sujoy’s aim as it never caught his interest at first. As he says,
“Advantages are very less as I really can’t zoom into anything.There is no proper light and aperture adjustment control and just preset filters. One specific advantage over cameras that I can mention proudly is it can be sneaked into anywhere as it’s not big and bulky and fits into your pocket.”
Other challenges are the clarity of the image, the colour balance and the depth of field.
But, as his father says,
“If the photographer is good enough, no camera never ever really matters. If you are good at it a simple phone cam is enough and if you’re not, even the Mark series cameras can’t help you”.
# Life approaching…
Focusing on progressing sizes and vibrancy, and preserving the picture with a little precise framing, was Sujoy’s intention here.
# Auto-mated Life !
A minimal shot focused on nets and a subtle background of moving subjects and a monotonous repeated subject in progressing smaller sizes.
# Blue umbrella, yellow taxi
Classical subject in place i.e. a man in shade and a commute nearby, focusing on mainly framing and colours to be natural.
# Cab-in-a-net-life !
Now I will call it my signature style as in most of my photos I try to focus on taxi because I simply love it and it’s one of the unique things about my Kolkata.
On a concluding note, Sujoy’s advice to mobilographers particularly is that –
“Never get de-motivated when you see a better picture on social networks. Never compare your resources to others and blame the mobile/camera for any fault because it’s always the photographer who makes a picture. Try to create your own style and own series. Don’t over edit, don’t overdo, and don’t make the picture dull or anyway animated.”
The gadget he uses for capturing pictures is Moto G Turbo (13 mp camera) and for post processing he uses VSCO, SNAPSEED and PIXLR.
The Uncommon Box opines that presence of the net acts as a prism- because it creates a feel of an alternate reality. It provides a unique perspective on the real world by giving an exclusive ‘netted’ glimpse and as well, insulating the audience from a conventional view of everyday life. This is indeed an unusual effect.
You can also follow Sujoy Barua on the following social media links:-
Instagram (Photography) | Instagram (Personal)
The content for this article was developed by our C3 collaborator Meghna Bhattacharya in association with The Uncommon Box.
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Brilliant article, loved the work ! <3 thanks a ton !