Ahead of World Photography Day, August 19, Monalisa Patsani catches up with 29-year-old photographer, teacher and entrepreneur Soumya Pattnayak who is deep into micro and underwater photography
\While some of us love to pose and stand in front of the camera, others prefer working behind it. Thanks to modern technology we have cameras in mobile phones and we can see youngsters taking their selfies everywhere. But how many us are really passionate about photography and are eager to master the art?
Soumya Ranjan Pattnayak, a 29-year-old youth from the city who is into micro photography, believes photography is much more than clicking or posing. “I developed interest in photography when I was in school. That time my father had a Chinese camera. Those were the days of rolls and not memory cards; there used to be restrictions and photography was expensive. I still remember visiting Vaishno Devi during night, when looking down from top I saw tiny lights twinkling like stars, and clicked some pictures but they didn’t come out good. From that time I developed interest in photography but a camera was too expensive those days.”
Later, when Soumya was in college his interest grew. His mother bought a 12 megapixel digital camera but it was not good for distance photography. However, for micro photography it was excellent and Soumya started micro photography.
Speaking about micro photography, he said, “It is an art. I mostly take pictures of butterflies at a point and shoot range. There is a particular time of clicking the picture. One has to observe behaviour minutely. If you know the behaviour of animals then you would be able to click best. You need to know when to get the ideal snap. Knowledge of their ways is needed to get a good snap. The major challenge in micro photography that we face is that most photographers capture the animals and then click them. Initially, I did the same but somehow I got round to the view that it was wrong. Capturing a small bug and placing it in a beautiful background is not photography; capturing nature as it truly is remains the most challenging part.”
Soumya has recently developed an interest in underwater photography for which he has visited the Andaman Islands. “In micro photography, butterfly is my first preference. I strongly believe there is no right picture or wrong picture, but yes there will always be difference in prospective. Recently, I have developed interest in underwater photography and for this I specially bought a waterproof camera and went to Andaman. I heard that in Orissa there is scope for underwater photography and if not I would again visit Andaman,” said Pattnayak.
Sharing an interesting anecdote about how he got his first DSLR, Souyma said, “In 2010, my mother promised me a DSLR camera on the condition that I had to clear GATE. I said okay. On the day of the exam there was a photography competition at KIIT. I was interested in participating. I won the competition but didn’t clear GATE that year. But since I promised my mother so I cleared it next year.”
Interested in astronomy, Soumya plans to pursue astrophotography in future. “One of the main reasons for my interest in photography is I am also interested in astronomy. After a certain age if I am alive and not able to move any longer I would do astrophotography through telescope and camera. But micro subjects fascinate me a lot.”
Speaking about picture editing he said, “I don’t believe much in editing. I try to get the best picture naturally. Work hard to get a good picture. There is a challenge in wildlife, micro or underwater photography. Even after clicking 100 shots I don’t find a good picture. I console myself that I will find a better one next time.”
Teacher and entrepreneur, Soumya takes time out for social activities. After the Independence Day celebrations many torn flags were scattered around lower PMG square. Soumya took out his car and collected all the national flags from the road and disposed at proper places. “It is good that people on Independence Day proudly go out with national flags but there should some way of preserving them after the celebrations are over. Torn flags lying around hurt the Indian in me,” he rounded off.