Taming the wild is not everybody’s temperament. And walking the stereotypes is not every man’s mission either. Caught much in between two such extremes, talented photographer Surajit Hari hits the road with his creative camera. Far from the madding crowd, chaos and the deafening din of city life, this wandering soul loves to escape into wilderness to shoot at solitude. And guess what? His favourite terrain to go click-happy is the virgin locales of Ladakh up in the mountains.
“The region is still highly uncharted and unexplored to this day,” avers the self-taught young lensman. Assorting a collage of his exploits on the lofty slopes of Ladakh, Hari recently showcased his solo series of a hundred snapshots at Kolkata’s prestigious premises of Birla Academy of Art and Culture.
The vignettes on display were wood-framed with sizes varying from 20X30” to 30X40”. “The sparsely-populated site has its own aura of mystery, which is not easy to decode,” shares the roving eye whose pictures highlighted an array of diversified shades of the enigmatic place.
Admitting his undeviating affinity for the subject, Hari has been visiting his first love since 2005. “I’ve been there nine times already and early this January, it was my latest expedition to set foot on the ethereal Ladakh,” he informs.
“See, it’s not possible to cover the entire zone in one single beat as the place unveils its beauty in several stages. The myriad layers get unfurled from one area to the next. So I have had to travel back and forth to capture its essence and ethos in bulk on my lens,” he further asserts about his primary theme. Having rolled out some enduring images, armed with a keen sense of imaginative observation, Hari recollects: “My first visit to Ladakh, almost eight monsoons ago, had opened up a vast treasure-trove in front of me. Thereafter, I’ve been taking annual trips to the place, during different seasons and I must confess that I’m completely enamoured by the magnificence of the land and its innocent people and have always felt the need to translate those breathtaking experiences into images.”
While nature has its own moodswings and whims, one has to get acclimatised to its aggressive forces. For it is often now-calm-and-then furious.
Recalling the tragic cloud burst of July 2011, the confident shutterbug notes: “Nature’s wrath has its own charm. The residue of a calamity is gruesome and eye-shocking, no doubt. But even an erosive storm, a devouring flash flood, a devastating landslide or an avalanche may just look awesome when freeze-framed amidst its speedy action. In this particular Ladakh disaster, sadly enough, the areas which were more prone to greenery, were the worst-affected. The shattering blow of a disaster is nonetheless difficult to cure.”
It’s true that Ladakh is mostly associated with its freezing conditions and the scenic snow-capped mountains, but luckily for Hari, Ladakh preened its monsoon-feathers like a colourful peacock when he had once traversed across the undulating land a year-and-a-half ago. “It’s easier to find snowflakes than rainshowers in the region,” he concedes.
With Pangong and Tso-moriri Lakes and the Drass Valley emerging as major tourist attractions of the place, the hoteliers do a brisk business all year round, except during the frosty winters. “Towards the year-end, when the weather turns really chilly, all hotels are shut down for a period. I had a unique experience during one such occasion when I had to check into a hotel owner’s house to be warmly accommodated for a photographic project. Well you may say, that is the most surprising part of their pleasant hospitality. In fact, they are gracious hosts. When their inn-house is closed, they open their own homes to invite and make room for their guests,” he acknowledges gratifyingly. “Since the climate is on the colder side throughout the year, most hotels are equipped with fireplaces to warm up the occupants, while a heater is available only in one place,” he elaborates.
A drive along the Leh Road and reaching its highest peak exposes the incessant struggle of the local populace. When quizzed about the natives’ occupations for a living, the 30-something snapper reveals that “tourism is of course one vital sector which the masses heavily cash in on. Besides, they pitch in for the Indian army, which is deployed in the rough quarters. The military camps obtain cheap labour out of indigenous inhabitants who help them in building and reconstructing roads, procuring water supply and garrisons as a source of their sustenance in inclement situations. This apart, cultivation is an important field to count upon. Growing vegetation on the soil for a period of three months is often seen in the areas dotted with farmhouses. In absence of plains, farmers mainly till the hill slopes and steps to sow crops.”
Interestingly education doesn’t lag any behind “as there are a few good small primary schools situated in the remote areas. While the Leh town proudly boasts of a school under CBSE Board.”
And talking of affluent families, the shooter confirms that “they send their children to schools in Jammu and Srinagar (capital of Kashmir).”
Though his chief-focus is Ladakh, which finds a new meaning and dimension through his lens, Hari is also fond of underwater photography and scuba diving.
With nerves for taking a rapid plunge right into the deep blue seas, the lensman wants to swim under water with his clicking tool and its unalloyed expression at Port Blair, Laskadweep or Mahabalipuram. “These are the most recognised haunts for the sport in this side of the sub-continent. Even snorkelling is quite popular in these places. Internationally, the Great Barrier Reef, Maldives and Indonesia are top spots,” he chips in.
From plant life to corals, animal kingdom to fishes plus other aquatic creatures will be his mainstays to capture the marine life in the caves under the rippling waves.
A Commerce graduate, Hari also bagged a Bachelor of Visual Arts degree from the reputed Rabindra Bharati University of Kolkata. The gift of an SLR FM 10 camera from a dear friend had triggered off his passionate interest in photography. Today, the craft allows him to explore his artistic domain despite a hectic schedule in family business.
Being an avid traveller already, his new-found calling got a further boost. Hari has earlier exhibited his oeuvre in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chandigarh and London.