FO2 STAGE | Ananway Ganguly

I bought a new phone in 2019 and started clicking pictures of landscapes and streets. Even while I was clicking images, becoming a photographer never occurred to me. However, my friends used to appreciate my photography, which made me focus on photography and motivated me to learn more about it.

I have recently graduated in Economics, and from a younger age, I had an interest in learning & working on computers. I wanted to do something in software engineering or development, but things changed later. I moved on with economics at graduation then photography came along the way. And now, I want to pursue street photography as a career.

My obsession with computers helped me a lot with the editing process. Sometime later, I convinced my parents to purchase a camera which was not easy! Like most parents, they wanted me to study and get a job. But I did not give up and convinced them. 

Kolkata is filled with cityscapes which led me to street and landscape photography. I used to see where other people used to visit and take inspiration from it. I have not yet done any technical courses in photography and learned everything through other photographers and experimenting with the gears.

Earlier I used to capture things I saw on other photographers' profiles. Still, as I grew, I started making my frame as I realized clicking different pictures is the only thing that will keep my work shining among everyone else's, and it also reflects through my Instagram username.

In my street photography experience in my city, I've had a fantastic experience with other photographers as they are very supportive. Still, the people in the city are sometimes hard to handle as they need help understanding photography as art, so they aren't very supportive. Some people do not understand and get angry when I leave that shot because it's better to go that shot for another day than to fight there with someone.

One picture that is always close to my heart is when I went to maidan to capture a frame I had in mind with two horses. I woke up at 4 AM on a December morning to capture it and waited in the open ground shivering from the cold, and at that exact moment, a fortunate encounter with two squirrels happened in my frame, which I managed to capture. That photo turned out to be more beautiful than I imagined.

The same photo also made it to an exhibition where I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Siddhartha Paul - a renowned photographer based in Kolkata, and he advised me to capture a photo in my style so no one should be able to click the same frame. And I always try to capture an image that is difficult to capture again!

I have just started my journey into photography. I have got plenty to learn. I want to stay consistent and continue experimenting with growing more and getting better. My only goal is to click the frames that were not clicked before.

- Ananway Ganguly

Follow Ananway's work on Instagram: 

https://instagram.com/click_different_?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=