Places and Faces: Film Photography by Chirantan Pramanik & Ruby Saha (@chiruphotography)

Through images shared on their LomoHome (@chiruphotography), we get to see the world the way couple Chirantan Pramanik and Ruby Saha see it – with much emphasis on connecting with people through portraits, and observing the changing hours in both new and familiar places.

Here's our interview with the duo, where we got to know more about the husband and wife as professionals and shutterbugs. We also share some of their images taken during their travels to different countries, and in the streets of their home country, India.

Hi, Chirantan and Ruby! Welcome to the magazine. Can you tell us about yourselves? How and when did you discover film photography?

Chirantan: I am doing research in geoscience at Weizmann Institute in Israel. I am from a village near south of Kolkata, India. I started film photography at University in 2016, and the motivation came from the beauty of analogue photos on the internet, clicked with the manual lenses (Pentax, Takumar and Helios) I was using with my DSLR.

I bought a Spotmatic and a Yashica Electro and started experimenting and researching analogue photography.

Ruby: I started my photography back in 2012. I bought a Canon 1100D crop sensor with my first scholarship. Initially, I was very happy with my crop sensor camera and kit lens. But, when I started to explore different lighting conditions and wanted to capture it, 1100D was not enough. In the meantime, Chirantan brought a Yashica and an expired C200 film from his home.

We clicked that roll during the peak summer light of Southern India, and surprisingly, the results were much better than those of the cropped sensor digital camera, though the first roll was grainy. I especially like the first frame, which is half-burnt. The other reason to continue film photography was that it was cheaper than buying a full-frame digital camera immediately.

Nowadays, I mostly take photos with Canon 5D, mark II with Takumar 55mm f1.8, and occasionally, I use the Olympus half-frame, Pentax K1000, and Nikon F65. With film, I can capture the mood. For example, if I am visiting a place in rainy and foggy weather, I always carry my blurry half-frame camera and C200 film to enhance the mystic effect and the greenery.

Looking at your LomoHome, it looks like you've visited quite a few countries and captured them with film. What does travelling mean to you and why do you prefer to capture your travels on film?

Chirantan: Traveling makes me more optimistic about everything. Analogue photography adds charm and spice to my travel. I am very introverted, but with a vintage camera and a bunch of various films, I am a different person on the street.

I had chances to go to large cities to attend scientific conferences, and without photography, it would be incomplete. I don't like the too-sharp photos on modern digital cameras with very large files. I can get the color and tone of my liking directly from the film scans without using lengthy retouching processes.

The mood and feel of film photography are the things I am up to. I don't need to buy expensive stuff; rather I can buy various vintage solid good-looking cameras. The charms of the people in analogue photography stores throughout the world are very warm and optimistic.

Where do you get inspiration from for your photos?

Ruby: I always like to walk and observe how the same place just looks so different at different times of day and night. I love to go with the flow. I always find subjects to remember. From my personal experience, I clicked most of my favorite photos in the neighborhood where I live.

Can you tell us a bit about you as a couple and how you bond through photography?

Chirantan: We first met each other in 2009. In Bangalore, we were together on an institute campus for three years before she started her PhD at another place in India. Currently, she is with me in Israel after both of us finished our doctoral studies. In IISc Bangalore, we have an institute photography club, and Ruby was one of the yearly in charge of conducting photography exhibitions, workshops, photo walks, training sessions, etc.

We had a group of very enthusiastic friends and photographers who also clicked on films for a long time but occasionally. Initially, we were very serious about exposure, composition and framing, and various geometric rules, but eventually, we overcame those technical concerns and learned to feel the mood and beauty in a frame.

We were meeting established photographers in Bangalore for photo walks. Still today, we have an online meeting group where we discuss photography, and the members join from places across the world. Recently, I started developing color and black-and-white films at home, and we are all learning the process. Ruby has been a part of all this for a very long time.

Before me, a few of the photography club friends from Kolkata and one from Kerala had analogue cameras, and suddenly, we all started clicking on film. She was inspired by the beautiful tone film produces and the character of the old lenses.

She likes Lomography Earl Grey, Lady Grey and Potsdam Kino films. Ruby is especially amused with the black and white films in 120 format.

Ruby: Yes, I like black-and-white medium-format films. I like Lady Grey, Earl Grey, Washi, HP5. I like those films for the white cast and low contrast for clicking portraits mostly.

Chirantan: Among Lomography films, I like Lomography Color Negative 100 the most, followed by Lady Grey and Earl Grey. I enjoyed Lomography Red Scale and LomoChrome Purple as well. These are all great films with extremely moody feelings.

You take a lot of street photos and portraits of ordinary people you meet on your walks too. What makes portrait photography interesting for you?

Chirantan: I like to click common people on the streets at their candid, undisturbed phase. I like the enjoyment of little things in daily life and want to capture the salient beauty of the gestures of ordinary people in their surroundings. I also like to capture the seasonal changes of nature, the golden light and twilight.

What's the most important place you've visited and what makes it special for you?

Chirantan: Bangalore, India, is one of the places I liked mainly due to the weather and the option to roam around any time due to the dynamic city life. I liked the rainy weather most of the months there during my doctoral studies.

I was completely independent, and surprisingly, I started film photography there. As a tourist, I liked Vienna and Lyon very much.

Ruby: I always like to take photos in the neighborhood where I live or can reach at any time of the day, like Tel Aviv-Yafo. But as a traveler, I like Ooty, Coorg, Darjeeling, and Paris and would love to visit again and again. I visited those places without expectations (excluding Paris!) and enjoyed the most.

As someone who travels with film a lot what is some advice you can give for people travelling with film?

Chirantan: Always try to travel with low ISO (400 or below) films in hand baggage, and no need to worry about airport scans. I had little degradation of pictures once in 400 and 800 color films but never with black and white films.

I carry them in transparent plastic bags very casually and just ask the security to hand check with a smile, and it works. You always have the option to buy high-ISO films at your destination.

Lastly, are there any projects you're working on that you would like to share with the community?

Chirantan: Along with my wife Ruby, who clicks on both film and digital, we regularly click photos on the streets of Tel Aviv-Yafo and Jerusalem, and we are very happy with the photos that have come so far, especially on minimalism. People are very welcoming and interactive, and there are lots of activities on the street. Currently, we are focusing on reflection, symmetry, silhouette, and shadows.

Ruby: I am thinking of doing a series on the clotheslines in different environments. Hopefully, we can share the photos in the near future. I usually like to click minimalism and juxtaposition compositions.

We'd like to thank Ruby and Chirantan for sharing their images and stories! To view more of their work, visit their LomoHome.

written by sylvann on 2024-09-25 #people #places #travel #portrait #street-photography #india #lomography-color-negative-400 #lady-grey #earl-grey