Prabuddha Dasgupta Explained

Prabuddha Dasgupta
Birth Name:Prabuddha Dasgupta
Birth Date:1956 9, df=yes[1]
Birth Place:Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Death Place:Alibaug, Maharashtra, India
Nationality:Indian
Occupation:Photographer
Years Active:1975–2012
Parents:Prodosh Dasgupta (father)
Spouse:Tania Sethi
Partner:Lakshmi Menon (2000–2012)
Children:2 daughters with wife

Prabuddha Dasgupta (21 September 1956 – 12 August 2012) was an Indian fashion and fine-art photographer.[2] Known for his black and white imagery, he worked as a fashion photographer for more than three decades. His books included Women (1996), a collection of portraits and nudes of urban Indian women.[3] [4]

Biography

Early life and background

Prabuddha Dasgupta was born in Kolkata in September 1956. His father was, Prodosh Das Gupta, a sculptor[5] and curator of the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Delhi from 1957 to 1970; the family stayed within the premises.[6] In the 1970s, his father moved to Nizamuddin West, an artists' colony in Delhi, where he stayed for most of his career. He graduated in History from Hindu College, University of Delhi (1973–1975).[7]

Career

Dasgupta started his career as copywriter with the advertising agency Everest, before turning to photography full-time in the late 1980s.[5] [7] During his career as a commercial photographer, which took off with a campaign for Blue Lagoon Jeans,[8] Dasgupta worked with the first generation of Indian supermodels: Madhu Sapre, Feroze Gujral, Shyamolie Verma and Mehr Jesia. According to historian, William Dalrymple, with whom he worked on his book Edge of Faith, "Rohit Khosla and Rohit Bal, along with Dasgupta, invented glamour in India."[7] A self-taught photographer, he received the Yves Saint Laurent grant for photography in 1991, for his photograph of model Feroze Gujral, shot for designer Suneet Varma.[7]

He shot the first advertisements of KamaSutra condoms in 1991, with models Pooja Bedi and Marc Robinson, which not only became popular, but also turned KS into India's top-selling condom brand.[9] [10] Another ad campaign he shot, was for 'Tuff Shoes' in 1995, which featured models, Milind Soman and Madhu Sapre.[2] [11]

Dasgupta worked for Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar and GQ. He published several art books of his photographs, including Women (1996),[5] Ladakh (2000) with landscapes of Ladakh, and his 2009 book Edge of Faith authored by William Dalrymple, with portraits of the Catholic community in Goa, was published in 2009.[12] His work has been internationally exhibited, in solo and group shows and is held in the collections at Museo Ken Damy, Brescia (Italy) and Galleria Carla Sozzani, Milan.[13] [14] His first personal show titled, Longing was held in New York in 2007, and was reviewed by The Paris Review.[15] During his career he also mentored "a generation" of photographers, including Tarun Khiwal and Bharat Sikka, who assisted him in the 1990s.[16]

In his later years, Dasgupta moved to Goa.[5] He died in Alibaug near Mumbai, following a heart attack on the way to the airport, after a fashion shoot in Alibaug, age 55.[3] [17] A memorial meeting in his honour was held on 25 August 2013 at NGMA, New Delhi, wherein tributes were paid by Mira Nair, Raghu Rai and Dayanita Singh; the gathering ended with an audio-visual montage of his works.[18] [19]

As a tribute to him, the theme of the 2nd Delhi Photo Festival (2013) was chosen as "Grace", inspired by a talk Dasgupta gave at the 1st edition of the festival in 2011, "I want to have a long string of images, held together by grace, because grace is that undefineable, non-rational, non-linear word that I am looking for…"[20] [21]

Personal life

Dasgupta was married to Tania Sethi, a graphic designer who was also his life-long creative collaborator, and with whom he had two daughters.[22] From 2000 till his death, he was in a relationship with Lakshmi Menon.[23]

Books

General references

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: NGMA, Memorial Meeting Poster . August 2012 . NGMA . 20 August 2012.
  2. Web site: Indian Fashion Photographer Prabuddha Dasgupta Dies at 58. 13 August 2012 . . 17 August 2012.
  3. News: Noted photographer Prabuddha Dasgupta passes away . https://web.archive.org/web/20120813231240/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/noted-photographer-prabuddha-dasgupta-passes-away/281621-8-66.html . dead . 13 August 2012 . . 17 August 2012.
  4. News: Dasgupta 'elevated fashion images to art'. . 14 August 2012 . 17 August 2012. The 58-year-old lensman suffered heart attack..
  5. News: He painted in black and white- Prabuddha Dasgupta . Rochelle Pinto . Hindustan Times . 14 August 2012 . 17 August 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120816164722/http://www.hindustantimes.com/Entertainment/Art/He-painted-in-black-and-white-Prabuddha-Dasgupta/Article1-913417.aspx . 16 August 2012 . dmy-all . .
  6. News: Obituary: Prabuddha Dasgupta. Aveek Sen. https://archive.today/20130203121421/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120814/jsp/opinion/story_15854292.jsp%23.UC3ZlaCdOSr . dead . 3 February 2013 . The Telegraph . 14 August 2012 . 17 August 2012.
  7. Web site: Memories of a master. Hindustan Times. Aasheesh Sharma. 21 September 2013. 24 September 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130930061621/http://www.hindustantimes.com/Brunch/Brunch-Stories/Memories-of-a-master/Article1-1125196.aspx. 30 September 2013. dmy-all.
  8. News: Retouch Me Not . Shefalee Vasudev. Indian Express . 14 August 2012 . 17 August 2012.
  9. Book: Bollywoods Top 20 Superstars of Indian Cinema. Bhaichand Patel. Penguin Books India. 2012. 978-0670085729 . 201 .
  10. Web site: KamaSutra's creative foreplay . 2 November 2003 . Business Standard.
  11. News: The death of a man so young, in the prime of his life . Pablo Bartholomew . Hindustan Times . 13 August 2012 . 17 August 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120816153125/http://www.hindustantimes.com/Entertainment/Fashion/The-death-of-a-man-so-young-in-the-prime-of-his-life/Article1-912693.aspx . 16 August 2012 . dmy-all .
  12. Book: Dalrymple, Prabuddha Dasgupta ; essay by William. Edge of faith. 2009. Seagull Books. London. 978-1906497316. 140.
  13. News: Rest in peace Prabuddha Dasgupta, says fashion world. India Today. 13 August 2012. 17 August 2012.
  14. News: Fashion photographer Prabuddha Dasgupta dead . https://archive.today/20130103145034/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-08-13/people/33181919_1_urban-indian-women-controversial-collection-fashion-photographer . dead . 3 January 2013 . . 13 August 2012. 17 August 2012.
  15. Web site: Curated by Geoff Dyer: Prabuddha Dasgupta. 2007 . Paris Review . 20 August 2012.
  16. News: Tribute: The silent frame . . 20 August 2012. 21 August 2012.
  17. News: Prabuddha, a master lensman (Obituary) . Hindustan Times, Mumbai . 12 August 2012 . 17 August 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120816153348/http://www.hindustantimes.com/Entertainment/Fashion/Prabuddha-a-master-lensman/Article1-912569.aspx . 16 August 2012 . dmy-all .
  18. News: Mira Nair, Raghu Rai pay tribute to Prabuddha Dasgupta. https://archive.today/20130126052203/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/mira-nair-raghu-rai-pay-tribute-to-prabuddha/285949-8-66.html . dead . 26 January 2013 . . 27 August 2012 . 26 August 2012.
  19. News: Remembering an extraordinary visionary . The Hindu . 26 August 2012. 26 August 2012.
  20. Web site: 2013 theme . 18 September 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130921061010/http://www.delhiphotofestival.com/delhi_photo_festival_2013/theme.html . 21 September 2013 . dmy-all .
  21. Web site: Making the Frame. The Hindu. 18 September 2013. Tushar. Khurana .
  22. Web site: Prabuddha Dasgupta: Vogue Retrospective. Sita Wadhwani . 21 August 2012 . Vogue India . 24 August 2012.
  23. News: “I don’t fit into the Indian fashion scene that’s obsessed with white skin” . 30 May 2016 . Hindustan Times . "Indians don’t go easy on relationships between an older married man and a single young woman, especially if they dare to bare. The hypocrisy of our society makes relationships controversial and vulgar. So much was written and much more whispered. But love seldom cares and neither did Lakshmi and Prabuddha, who looked after his wife and children while simultaneously sharing his special relationship with Lakshmi." .

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