Painting reels with light

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They draw with light. That’s why they are called Lightscribers. Photography is their passion, but programming is their profession. So marking their journey from the sector of IT to the field of creativity, a set of 10 snappers mark out their vision on descriptive frames at a group show in Kolkata’s Gallery Gold.

Just as the word photography is derived from the Greek words — phos meaning “light” and graphê denoting “drawing or writing”, similarly, the core philosophy of the Lightscribers walks the creative line of using their cameras like brushes to paint a tapestry of interesting tales. But, among these storytellers, a couple of creators also emerge as artists with a colourful palette.
Participating in their inaugural exhibition, the Lightscribers have unwrapped a deluge of themes ranging from street-scenes, portraits, wildlife, landscapes, and cityscapes to many more different subjects. “We are a coterie of self-taught artistes who are passionate about our craft, but seldom find time to indulge in it, given the pressure of our daily grind. Our maiden presentation belongs to diverse sections, varying from photography to paintings,” shares Rabin, one of the amateur shutterbugs, who loves to dabble in street photography.
Capturing a string of events dotting the lanes, bylanes, alleys and pavements of a city on his lens, Rabin’s gizmo zeroes in on the roads and neighbourhoods of Kolkata in the east, Rajasthan in the west and Varanasi, the sacred temple-town up in the north.
From the dazzling arrangements of a Chhath Puja, where women are seen performing the dondi-rites to observing the ceremonial rituals of a Shitala Puja or hawkers peddling items from an orderly array in the streets or scroll-painters of Kalighat’s patua-para lending finishing touches to their creations and the folk-play (jatra) actors, meticulously rehearsing their parts — everything is so beautifully arrested in the shooter’s collage.
Moving further down to the sights and sounds of Benaras, the canvas slowly comes alive with the holy ghats, the flowy Ganges, the sailing of boats, the morning prayer-chants, devotees bathing in the river, fortune-tellers sitting with a pack of cards and a prophetic parrot, et al.
On the other hand, the pink city of Jaipur, the palatial edifices of Jodhpur, the forts of Ajmer and Jaisalmer appear remarkably splendid in the Royal Rajasthan segment. The golden yellow deserts, the domes of sand dunes, the architectural magnificence impeccably make the photographs so resplendent.
But, how was this association formed with a host of high-flying MNC techies enrolling as its key founder-members? “Well, we met through our workplace. And when a bunch of like-minded people converges at a point, they are bound to forge a bond. Look, our hobbies are alike, so we thought of directing our resources into one common platform and display the assorted results in public,” replies Rabin.
Toying with landscapes as a pivotal theme for his line of frozen stills as well as a pile of painted pieces, Bhaskar seems to finely pedal photography with his paintings. From hill-slopes to wavy seas to deep forests, Bhaskar finds inspiration in every element of nature. Having trekked to Ladakh, waded through the jungles of Dooars (West Bengal) and Betla (Orissa), this multi-faceted artiste sniffs off a story behind every substance he picks up along his path. When asked to choose a specific season from nature’s luxurious palette, which he considers most suitable to click with his device, the software whizkid responds with a shrug: “Obviously every season has its own charm and magic to unfurl, but monsoon is my most favourite as it stimulates a curious mind to take snatches of the pictorial sky.”
Also a poet, Bhaskar jots forth his rhyming verses with an effortless ease and at a leisurely pace. “We have amassed our songs, poetry, prose, sagas in a different collection with an on-line entity addressed as srishtisandhan.com. This is an attempt to assemble adequate material for a little magazine,” concedes the creatively-inclined person. With his works dyed in water-chromes on paper and acrylic shades on separate transparent sheets to acquire that glass-painting effect on the reverse side, Bhaskar hopes that like his snapshots, his painted hues would also pull in droves of people to have a dekko.
Fond of rural sceneries or a pastoral vista, Chinmoy’s camera has fetched in beautiful vignettes from the far-flung regions of the verdant and mysterious Sunder-bans (West Bengal).
“Once while I was travelling by train, I saw a tree being prominently cut out through a haze of smoky mist. Surprisingly, the background just blurred away in obscurity, but the tree remained clearly visible to my sight. So striking this composition was that I instantly seized the moment on my camera and the output looked simply great!” he reminisces.
On another occasion, Chinmoy’s sojourn to Shankarpur (West Bengal) had brought him to the local fishermen’s vicinity, wherein he saw them processing the tasty delicacy called shutki maachh (dried fish).
“Against those white slimy fishes, some red ones were also hanged up for drying. The colour-contrast just caught my imagination and I quickly grabbed the view without wasting a second,” adds Chinmoy, analysing his innovative approach.
Come October, the team is scheduled for a backpack in Ladakh. Earlier, the crew had visited Kedarnath and Sandakphu. “The audience reaction is already satisfactory from this ongoing exhibition. Whatever sale proceeds we are able to accumulate, we will donate the same to the aid of Uttarakhand disaster victims,” discloses Chinmoy.
Out of 10, nine are lensmen and only two have submitted their paintings for this showcase. “We are even open to accepting new members within our fold,” Rabin informs.
With plans to make the exposition an annual affair henceforth, the multitaskers feel that it’s important to balance work-life. “When we go out for business trips, we always keep a vigil to trace back the food for our aesthetic thought. And on the weekends, we decide to switch on the adventure-freak button inside us and just embark upon a new voyage. This is a perfect way to unwind after a hectic schedule and shake off the clotting mental ennui,” reveals Rabin.
With encouragement from friends and family pouring in heavily, this Lightscribers’ guild can only aim and aspire to reach loftier heights in the long run.