A health science & humanitarian photographer by passion & profession. A medical graduate by formal education. A visual artist & imaging scientist by training. Interweaving medicine, visuals and narratives. Focused on Visual Communication in Medicine & Public Health, as well as Medical Humanities. A visual storyteller. A photo researcher & photo editor. A son, a husband & a father. Dwelling between Kolkata & Santiniketan in West Bengal, India.
For about a decade, I am amalgamating my education (in medicine), training (in visual arts) and my zeal (for photography) to visually communicate health and medical care. While on this journey, I have been searching for my true calling and identity. An existential question to myself – who am I – a clinician, an artist or a photographer? The conflict within arose from my work as a silent observer, capturing (with or without camera) my predestined encounters with unforeseen moments in life, death and beyond. While initially restricting myself to this visual pursuit, later on, I have endeavored to integrate the science and humanities behind medicine & photography, both intricately in synchronicity with humans. During this pursuance and endeavors, I have traveled remote places, met and interacted with different folks, explored diverse cultures perceiving health and medical care in a holistic way and have endeavored to document the holistic science of humans. My body of work is incomplete, imperfect in their representation. My photographs are half told narratives — subject to the interpretations, imagination, experiences, world-views of the viewers. They are meant for communication — to imbibe values & truths, to induce reactions. Here they are for posterity to judge for their import and worth. Do be free to lend your voice to my stories, to give a voice to my visuals.
- The first & only Indian recipient of Graduate Imaging Scientist (GIS ARPS) qualification in the field of medical and scientific photography from The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain (RPS).
- The first corresponding member from India in the Medical Group Committee, The Royal Photographic Society.
- Overseas member, International Visual Sociology Association (IVSA).
- Conceived, developed, designed & implemented India’s (& Asia’s) first graduate course (B.Sc.) in Medical & Scientific Photography at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh.
- Commissioned health science photographer of “Rotavirus Vaccine: the India story”, a coffee table book released by Dr Harsh Vardhan, Hon’ble Health Minister of India and Mr Seth Franklin Berkley, Epidemiologist & CEO of Gavi Alliance on December 5, 2019, at New Delhi.
- Commissioned health science photographer of “Bihar’s story of Routine Immunisation” – a coffee table book released by Mr Nitish Kumar, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Bihar and Mr Bill Gates, Co-chair Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on November 17, 2019, at Patna, Bihar.
- “Behind-the-Scenes in Child Health” – a solo photography exhibition about seven extraordinary people behind the success of India’s Immunisation program; organized by Global Health Strategies (GHS), International Vaccine Access Centre (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health), Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh and Child Health Foundation; at AIFACS Gallery, New Delhi from September 6 to 12, 2019.
- Official photographer and documentarian of “COVID-19 Vaccine Roll-out Programme in India” for Immunization Technical Support Unit (ITSU), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India (2021).