Meet the Person : Vikramjit Kakati (Photojournalist & Engineer) Posted On :: Monday 5th December 2016
It takes a lot of courage to quit a well-settled job and pursue a career you are passionate about. Here is one story that is somewhat akin to the character of FarhanQureshi in “3 Idiots.” The only telling difference is that Vikramjit Kakati has mastered the skills in both disciplines – engineering and photography. Vikramjit is a chartered engineer who has gone on to become one of the most prominent photojournalists from Assam. Born in Guwahati, Vikramjit was first acquainted with the camera in 1977 when his father, Late Rohini Kumar Kakoti lent him a Pentax camera and the first photo Vikramjit clicked was of the entrance of the Assam State Zoo cum Botanical Garden. Impressed by the photograph his father gifted him the camera. After he made it to Jorhat Engineering College he came across Prasad Chakrabarty who introduced him to the next level of photography through single-lens reflect (SLR) cameras. Thereafter, Vikramjit participated in several competitions and won several prizes. Soon after completing his engineering, Vikramjit joined the railways. Meanwhile, his passion for photography only grew. In 2007, Vikramjit was offered a job in Indian Oil Tanking Limited which is a sister concern of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL). He was posted in Sivasagar where he managed to pursue his passion. One summer, during a visit to Guwahati, Vikramjit came across UB Photos which he misjudged to be a photo studio. Vikramjit walked in to get a passport photograph clicked. There he met Utpal Baruah who burst into laughter at Vikramjit’s misjudgement. During the conversation Baruah introduced the term “photojournalism” to Vikramjit. “I expressed to him my desire to work as a photojournalist and I showed him some photographs I had clicked. On the very next day one of the pictures of a girl selling lilies at a Buddha Vihar in Numaligarh got published in Ajir Dainik Batori. Following this, UtpalBaruah asked me to meet ManashJyotiDutta, UB correspondent in Sivasagar, who also turned out to be my mentor teaching me several aspects of photography,” Vikramjit said during a conversation with G Plus. Vikramjit’s passion soon started earning him laurels and within a short span of time one his photographs got published in the front page of The Assam Tribune. It was a low angle photograph of a family engaged in grinding rice-flour prior to MaghBihu. “It was Manash who informed about the photo being published and the moment I saw the paper I was overwhelmed with joy. There are only a few such moments that one experiences in his or her lifetime,” the photojournalist said. Soon came the moment when the photographer’s life changed forever as he took the crucial decision of quitting his job to take up photography as a profession. In his career till date, Vikramjit’s photographs have been published in several leading media such as Zuma Press and Washington Post among others. He was also the first person from Assam whose work was published in National Geographic. One memorable moment in his career was capturing the reunion of Arabinda Rajkhowa and his mother after 30 long years. Apparently, Vikramjit snuck in with the help of his associates Parikhit Saikia, Manash Jyoti Dutta and Utpal Baruah and managed to capture the emotion-filled moment. The photograph turned out to be a splendid example of perfect exposure. Vikramjit is also focusing towards uplifting the profession among the youths and how one can explore the various fields that can help them earn decent money. He is the co-founder of Photography Club of Assam and adviser to several photography associations of the region. In his message to the youth Vikramjit alluded to stock photography. “Assam is one of the most resourceful places to earn money through photography. The state has such disparate and unexplored flora and fauna that one, with his perception, can present unique photographs to the world and earn money in the process. For example, I had gone to Chandrapur for an event which unfortunately got cancelled. On my way back home I came across a wild flower (Siyal-Kanta), clicked it and gave it to one my contributing agencies called Shutterstock. Till date this photograph has been sold over twenty times. So the aspiring photographers should develop the practice of entrepreneurship which will give them recurrent earning. It is my message to the aspiring photographers to indulge in stock photography that can be easily sold to several agencies,” the senior photojournalist mentioned. Along with practicing his passion, Vikramjit has currently enrolled himself in the Department of Design in Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati after attaining the second position in the entrance examination in order to pursue a Ph.D. in usability engineering on tea plucking machines. The research scholar married his college sweetheart Dr. Bobby SarmaKakati who is an associate professor at Don Bosco University and who has been the force behind the photojournalist’s success throughout his amazing journey. http://g-plus.in/page/featured-news-meet-the-person-vikramjit-kakati-photojournalist-engineer- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ সমাজৰ কাৰণে ভাল কাম কৰাজনৰ পৰিচয় ৰাইজৰ আগত দাঙি ধৰিব লাগে আৰু ভাল খবৰবোৰ যিমান পাৰি ৰাইজৰ মাজত বিলাব লাগে। ---- বুলজিৎ বুঢ়াগোহাঁই _______________________________________________ Assam mailing list [email protected] http://lists.assamnet.org/listinfo.cgi/assam-assamnet.org
