A dotted father, an entrepreneur, a fanatic country music and classic rock fan, an avid driver who has more or less self driven the country by road, but a little boy of nine three and a half decades back then, Jeet Mukerji used to look down and observe the magnetic dance of the sun-rays with his shadow with varying intensities and positions.
The boy grew up to be a Master in Business Administration and Information Technology Management, but the passion and curiosity never ran out. After 18 rigorous years of a corporate grind as Profit Centre heads with Blue Chip Indian Companies, Jeet Mukerji took up Fine Art as his muse.
Tell me something about you which nobody knows?
I understood the concept of compositions of photography by watching images of crushed/accidental cars. Don’t get petrified or surprised. Actually, my father had industrial photography as a KRA of his job and that is how, I came across such images.
Please share your childhood dream and funny incidents if any?
Childhood dreams….aah well..that is a very long list…but I assure you, it had nothing to do with photography… infact one that I remember is…I wanted to be a Mexican cowboy.. Haha.. Yes.. I wanted to be one. For the funny incident part… well I ain’t sure this is funny or not, but I used to play with my shadows on the wall or the ground…always tried to catch it…never managed. Kind of funny for me though.
What is your view about photography?
Well if I talk about views….then I would say…Photography is the reflection of the inner mind and soul. An artist reproduces whatever his mind produces.
Which genre of photography do you like/practice and why?
I love PHOTOGRAPHY. As for practice, I am a keen observer and practitioner of low key fine-art nude and love to play around with light and shadows.
Almost 90% of photographers find it hard to earn money out of photography. Any tips that might help photographers to earn money?
In today’s world, marketing yourself is a very important tool, if you wish to have a career in photography. And to do that you need to reach out to a maximum number of people. Art can be dealt with later, but if you want to earn money, then you need to think commercially. Art is for the soul, money is for the stomach. To survive you need to blend both intelligently.
Does good camera play a major role in photography?
Yes, it does, though I grew up with a Nikon D7000 but the role of a good camera only comes into effect in the later stage. The primary or most important aspect of photography is the MIND inside you, the VISION inside you. If you are able to envisage the unseen amongst the seen, then you are 70% done. I will leave 20% on the camera and 10% to post-processing.
Share three names of the photographers who have inspired you a lot?
Prabuddha Dasgupta, Raghu Rai, Kevin Carter
Does social media like Facebook, Instagram, Google and some sites like 500px, NatGeo your shot helps to get the attention of the viewers in larger aspect?
Of course, it does.
Do you think that a quality workshop can change the mindset or point of view of any photographer and why? Should we attend a quality workshop frequently?
It is of paramount interest for any photographer to attend a quality workshop. We all have it inside us to envisage, but somewhere we need a GUARDIAN ANGEL who will open up our vision towards the outer world. And a quality workshop does just that. But every individual should remember that they should attend the workshop to learn from the MENTOR and not become a PHOTOCOPY of the Later. One’s own style and identity are of significant importance to carve a NICHE for oneself in the field of art.
What should our moto towards photography- Self-satisfaction or viewers’ attention/satisfaction?
For me, it has always been SELF SATISFACTION.
What is meant by comfort zone in photography? How it ruins the carrier?
Aah, that’s my favorite question. When we all started as a photographer, we would click every genre that we could lay our hands on…. but slowly we graduated into one specific genre where we felt, we could excel and we started practicing likewise. But that was when we got into our comfort zone. We left behind corpses of our talent, which could have sparkled in some other genre as well. We tended to trivialize, we tended to succumb to the lethargic inner self, which we never had when we started. The hunger inside us satiated and EGO settled in. That is the BEGINNING OF THE END. Unlearning whatever one learns is the best way to LEARN DEEPER.
What is your opinion about documentary photography? Do you like it? If yes, why?
That’s the genre of a SNIPER in the world of photography. Decisive timing at its best gets immortalized in years to come. Remember I mentioned Raghu Rai & Kevin Carter as one of my favorite photographers!! That explains it all about my liking for the genre.
The light, decisive moment, content, ambiance, a good gear, according to you which is the most essential element in photography?
Don’t mind but that’s an extremely elementary question. It is always the CONTENT and nothing but it. Others are only a subset of the former, executed with proper planning and vision.
Are you associated with any particular brand or brand ambassador if yes, specify?
Yes I am a Mentor with Zeiss Camera lenses.
Do you feel any pressure being an ambassador of any brand? If yes, how do you cope up with the pressure? Does this tag help to get more audience?
Naah I never felt any pressure being an ambassador. Well, the tag surely builds up your own brand and instills a sense of BELIEF amongst your fans and followers.
If you were not a photographer then what it would be?
Never thought about it…but I guess It would be a TRAVELLER exploring countries.
Concept and definition in photography are getting changed every day. what is your opinion about the future of photography?
Yes, of course, the concept and definition in photography are changing every day. Gears are getting more user-friendly. Editing skills are getting enhanced, but ultimately all of the above components are a failure, if the content or the composition lacks the attraction power.
So my heartfelt opinion is….the fundamentals and the basics should be strong to capitalize on the ever-changing concepts and definition of the art. Remember…there will always be something better tomorrow than today or yesterday, but to embrace it, you need to ensure that your yesterday and today was and is firmly placed in the ground.
Which food do you like the most? Does it help you to explore more?
Hahaha…I am a foodie…Just giving you a hint…to reach me..you need to come through my tummy.
Any message for the young photographers?
Be your own self and not the first copy of your inspiration.
What is your big achievement in photography?
For me, it will always be the day when my father first agreed to wash my cut reel. Rest you can find on the internet.
According to you what is the best photography magazine?
Yet to find the perfect one.
According to you, name two best Facebook photography group?
This is a very unrealistic question. The quality life or longevity of a group in facebook is hardly 2 to 3 years, typically like a PLC of a product. Stagnation settles in. Images get repetitive. The quest for the group of the hour should be continuous in the expectation of viewing the best creations of others. Actually, Photo Artists are like NOMADS…they keep traveling from one group to other. So for me…all of them are doing a decent job as per their bandwidth.
Kindly share top five Instagram account everybody should follow?
I believe that should be genre-specific and individual choices, which I don’t believe in piling upon others. Word of advice….Keep a close watch on your favorite Hashtags…and you will find your person to follow.
Share your goal in photography?
My Journey….Goals will automatically fall in place.
Role of the smile in photography- share your views?
Extremely Important. But not all images can bring a SMILE on your face. So, understand the essence of the photograph before being judgemental about it.
You can find Jeet Mukerji on the web:
About Raj Sarkar
Raj Sarkar is a Street Photographer and Educator. He holds MBA Degree in Finance and Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Application. He is the founder of World Photographic Forum, and Curator of APF magazine Street Photography. He loves exploring possibilities on street. His main object is to Freeze the emotions and actions of people.
He delivers the lecture on photography in various Colleges and institutions like IIM (Indian Institution of Management), Union Chappell school etc. He also conducts countless workshops on street photography. He also curates’ various exhibition and he has also been appointed as a judge in the various competition.
Raj is a recipient of various awards, recently he has won the International Puskar Mela Contest, Winner Wiplay Photo contest “India in Color”. Finalist of Garuda World Photo contest and HIPA and his work has been exhibited worldwide. He reviews various gadgets and camera including Fuji x camera for Fujifilm. His article has been published in all renowned magazine and websites in the world like Fujilove, Street Photography Magazine, USA, Viewfind, APF Magazine, Smart Photography, Better Photography, Asian Photography, Chiiz magazine, Saveus, 121 clicks, National Geographic and more. Recently his photographs have been showcased in London Street Photography Festival and Indian Photo Festival.
You can find Raj Sarkar on the Web:
Copyrights:
All the pictures in this post are copyrighted Jeet Mukerji. Their reproduction, even in part, is forbidden without the explicit approval of the rightful owners.
1 comment
I’m interested