He had to work hard for a couple of years while picking up glowing laurels at numerous competitions, before he could convince his father about his true passion, to eventually buy him his first camera earlier this April — a Canon 200D Mark2. But 21-year-old Rajarshi Sengupta likes to earn recognition the hard way.
For this second-year student of law, his father has been partially his source of inspiration. “My father is a very good amateur painter and had participated and won in quite a few competitions, but he could never fully commit to his passion due to work and other commitments. But I want to follow my passion and that’s why I have chosen to study law, so that I can also run a studio parallelly in the future,” says Rajarshi, who wants to keep growing and evolving as a portrait photographer.
His fascination for clicking pictures grew in his pre-teens as he was framing random shots with his phone camera. “Seeing his steady passion, his female cousin lent him her Nikon D5300 to learn the nuances better. “I used to shoot with it a lot, and later did many collaborations with my friends who had an equal interest in photography. Then, seeing my work on Instagram, I started getting offers from people,” says the quiet shutterbug.
When he clicks portraits, he always tries to highlight the object he’s shooting and he believes in minimal post-processing. “It’s not always that a model wears make-up, but as a photographer, I always strive to make a subject bright without much make-up, and highlight natural beauty. Other elements of photography including symmetry and rule of third, which remain the same more or less the same for any shoot,” explains the young lensman.
The pictures shown along with this column were clicked by Rajarshi at various occasions. “Panchali is very natural and doesn’t take much time to shoot. Debasmita is an aspiring model and she loves exploring the art of photography. She just needs to work more on her expressions. Aditi again is very fluid, but since she is starting out new, she gets shaky at times. Srishti is very mature in her approach, and has equally sharp features to match,” observes Rajarshi, who loves to practise music and play the guitar when not working.
Rajarshi Sengupta can be reached at 91233- 52073 or rajsengupta505@gmail.com Instagram handle: @_pixelman_
Aditi Dey Roy | 18, height: 5 ft 3 inches
This high school student of commerce got noticed as a model when she did a couple of assignments for a media house. “I get calls through Instagram for more such shoots, and I love doing them during free time,” says Aditi. For this effervescent teenager, fashion has to be sophisticated and classy yet casual, and most of the times, she loves wearing denim bell bottoms with white shirts or crop tops. “I love saris too and I wear my mom’s saris a lot,” she says, adding that khadi and silk are her comfort fabrics with white being her favourite shade.
“I also love wearing short dresses and pantsuits as they enhance my body shape. I like floral and bobby prints and also small detailed lacework, Gujarati cross-stitch and chikankari work,” adds Aditi. A fan of designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Aditi loves to flaunt chokers and nose pins. “I like sneakers and high-heels and make-up for me includes kajal, mascara, blush and nude lips. At times, I like red or brown pouts too,” says Aditi, who’s also a trained classical singer.
Instagram: @aditideyroy
Panchali Mitra | 21, height: 5 ft 4 inches
A fashion, beauty and lifestyle blogger, Panchali loves Indo-Western styles, and fusion wear is her choice of clothing. This fresh graduate loves to pair her crop tops with dhoti pants or kurtas with jeans and mostly sticks to fabrics like pure silk, organza silk, handloom weaves and cotton. “My favourite colours include blue, pink, red and yellow. I love wearing prints too, especially bobby prints and large floral prints in bright colours. When it comes to occasions, it’s traditional silks like kanjivarams, organza silk and South Indian silks in rich colours,” says Panchali.
For accessories, chunky earrings in oxidised silver and gold are her preferred choice, and she likes to keep her makeup minimal.” I love flaunting different types of bags and pairing them with wedge heels,” says the bookworm, who loves to cook and paint too.
Instagram: @theglossymusingss
Srishti Majumder | 20, height: 5 ft 4 inches
This final-year student of English has been ardently blogging about fashion and lifestyle for the past four years, and loves posting pictures of experimental clothing on Instagram, but when it comes to daily wear, comfort is the key for Srishti.
“But it should at the same time look stylish. I usually like wearing long flowy maxi dresses with miniature floral prints. But when I go partying with my friends, it’s a little black dress or sequined short dresses for me. Traditional occasions call for linen saris in solid colours paired with deep-back, sleeveless blouses,” adds Srishti. For formal events, Srishti likes wearing unusual boho chic jewellery. Make-up means neutral, warm tones for the face with high-lighted lips in fuschia or red.
Instagram: @sri.thefaddict
Debasmita Pal | 19, height: 5 ft 6 inches
Fashion has to be simple fusion wear for this first-year student of cloud technology. “I love Indo-Western wear and match a palazzo with a crop top or a kurti with a pair of flared jeans. For parties, I like wearing body con dresses and at times, formal skirts with shirts,” says Debasmita, who loves her clothes in cotton or khadi in the colours white, yellow and light green.
“I also like to go for geometric or boho prints that are unusual to spot,” she adds. When it comes to jewellery, it’s chandelier earrings in silver for her and shoes that must have either pointed heels or boxy heels. “I am a no-makeup person and love nude lips and eyes with only a hint of mascara,” adds Debasmita, who’s also a passionate kathak dancer.
Instagram: @_astrin_