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Home || The Living Legend || Abhoy and His Works
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 Benu
Sen, The Legend of Indian Photography
 If
life is a collage of fleeting moments, Benu Sen’s camera has trapped
them in myriad tones and hues. Be it his monochromes with alluring play
of light and shade, or his poignant candid shots – Benu Sen has proved
his métier in varied domains of photography.
Mr. Benu Sen (1932) served as Secretary General, Federation of Indian
Photography and President of Photographic Association of Dum Dum was the
living legend in the field of International Pictorial Photography. His
contribution both as individual artist and as a promoter for the development
of Indian Photography is perhaps exceeds that of any Indian Photographer.
Trained to be a ground engineer, Benu Sen’s alliance
with the viewfinder happened by a sheer play of chance. It was August
15, 1954, when Sen accompanied a camera-lugging friend to an Independence
Day celebration. The device sparked off his curiosity and he was keen
to have a look at the new equipment with his friend, who however turned
down the request on the ground that his tampering might damage the camera.
That came as a blow to his pride which took him the very next day to a
junk market in Kolkata – to look for lenses, tin and other scrap
materials to assemble his very own camera. The success of this attempt
triggered a spurt of diverse experimentation in camera mechanics and darkroom
techniques. Not surprisingly, engineering took a backseat.
He was the 3rd man in the world to have received the rare
honour of ‘Master of Photography’ (M.F.I.A.P.) from the Federation
International de L’Art Photographique, a body under the recognition
of UNESCO. He was conferred the Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society
of Great Britain (F.R.P.S.) in 1975, EFIAP in 1960, ESFIAP in 1972 and
number Honorary fellowships like Hon F.J.I.A.P. (Japan), F.N.P.A.S. (Sri
Lanka), Hon. F.P.B.S. (Bangladesh), Hon. F.P.A.D (India),Hon. F.C.O.S
(Romania), Hon. P.A.B, Hon. S.O.P etc. for his contribution to pictorial
photography.
In 1957, Benu Sen, along with a like-minded friends, established
the Photographic Association of Dumdum (PAD) to practice, propagate and
discuss the nuances of this art form. Another remarkable contribution
of Sen is his initiative in setting up a state-of-the-art photography
department in the Indian Museum Kolkata. Established in 1963, it was the
first of this kind in India.
However, the most notable milestone for this septuagenarian
photo artist was perhaps the starting of free photographic courses under
the wings of PAD. Since the launch of the course in 1969, PAD has blossomed
into a full-fledged institute for systematic schooling in photography,
totally free of cost. With an expert faculty, all of whom are engaged
voluntarily, it offers a one-year certificate course and a subsequent
two-year diploma to aspirants, irrespective of age and academic qualifications.
Many of his students are well placed in senior level positions in the
Government Establishments (Including Rashtrapati Bhawan, Ministry of Information
& Broadcasting, Ministry of Defense,, Department of Culture, Department
of Science & technology etc.), public sector and autonomous organizations,
private sectors and individual entrepreneurship.
His other remarkable contribution to photography are the
BS4 formula, an extra ordinary fine grain developer for tropical countries.,
Tonorama and macro pictography. He introduced colour photogram and colour
separation from Black & White Negatives in India.
He has organized seven (7) International Photographic Conferences,
twelve (12) All India Seminars, forty eight (48) international Salons
and several local exhibitions to promote and propagate photography throughout
the world. He organized a number of Solo Exhibitions and Group Shows.
He presented a number of papers and published a number of articles, delivered
T.V & Radio talks on photography. He was former Vice President and
founder member of India International Photographic Council, New Delhi
and Former Vice President, Calcutta Photo Club Coordination Center. He
has served as Jury of selection in a number of International Salons both
in India and abroad during the last 50 years. He has written a few books
as well. One of the most valuable publications was “Art of Photography”
in 1979. He is co-author of the most important book “Experimental
Photography” and “Learn Photography”. Benu Sen’s finesse
is all-encompassing, spanning the range of photo-journalism, architectural
photography, portraits and the subtleties of pictorialism – according
to him an ionic status in the glossy world of Photography. But his most
enduring legacy will perhaps be in pioneering efforts in opening up new
vistas in photography for the generation after us.
Benu Sen retired from the Indian Museum as photo Officer
in 1990 contributed a lot both in the field of Social & Cultural Anthropology
and allied Museum Photography. As an artist he had enormous number of
Exhibits in different Salons throughout the world and won several awards
from various countries during last fifty years of his artistic photography.
For his peculiarly imaginative works, which look less like photographs
and more like painter’s dabblings, he was adjudged the best Indian
Pictorialist by the Camera World International, Australia besides being
honoured by the Harvard Senetic Museum, Harvard University, for his outstanding
contribution to museum photography. To crown all, he had been conferred
the Honarary Excellence of the ‘Federation International de L’Art
Photographique’ the highest International body of photography, in
the world. He was the only living Hon. EFIAP in India. He was conferred life time achievement award by Government of India in 2010 for his valuable contribution in the field of creative photography.
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