Nemai Ghosh

Nemai Ghosh has been the distinctive Satyajit Ray photographer, recording the auteur and his films over a thirty year span with unusual fidelity and affection. Although Ghosh is identified mainly with his association with Satyajit Ray, his work isn’t restricted to Ray’s films alone. He has worked extensively in cinema,photographing the films of several directors working in films and television – a large selection of which is featured in the current exhibition.

His passion for theatre has led to a large collection of photographs that forms a pictorial history of theatre in Kolkata over the last four decades, in both Bengali and English. His photographs capture the distinctive individualities of renowned theatre directors, actors and actresses, such as Shombu Mitra, Utpal Dutt, Tripti Mitra and Badal Sircar, among others.

Nemai Ghosh has also done extensive work documenting tribal life – in Kutch,Gujarat, Bastar in Chattisgarh and Bonda Hills, Arunachal Pradesh. The urban cityscape of Kolkata has also been an abiding photographic interest with him. Nemai Ghosh has published several books, some of which are Satyajit Ray at 70 (1991) with a foreword by Henri Cartier-Bresson; Satyajit Ray: A Vision of Cinema (2005), Barefoot Light (2002) with the NGO Sanlaap, Dramatic Moments (2000), Manik-Da: Memories of Satyajit Ray (2011) and Nemai Ghosh’s Kolkata (2014). DAG has showcased an exhibition of his works accompanied with the book, Nemai Ghosh: Satyajit Ray and Beyond (2013). Nemai Ghosh lives and works in Kolkata.

Born in Kolkata in 1934, Ghosh is best known as the photo-biographer of legendary Indian film director Satyajit Ray. From 1967 to Ray’s death in 1992, Ghosh photographed every aspect of the maestro at work. His passion for theatre led to a collection of photographs that forms a pictorial history of theatre in Kolkata over the last four decades. He also has a phenomenal collection of photographs related with Bengali Cinema, such as Jukti Takko Gappo by Ritwik Ghatak, Calcutta 71 by Mrinal Sen, and Paar by Gautam Ghosh.

Ghosh is now chronicling subjects as diverse as major Indian painters and sculptors at work, Michelangelo Antonioni painting for an exhibition on his 94th birthday, and the tribal people of India, including the people of Kutch in Gujarat, Bastar in Chattisgarh, and Bonda Hills in Orissa.

Ghosh’s extensive archive of photographs on Satyajit Ray has been exhibited at the Cannes International Film Festival (1991), Paris (1991), Nantes (1991), Brussels (1993), Aix-en-Provence (1993), London International Film Festival (Nehru Centre 1993), Nandan (Kolkata 1993, 2002, 2003), New Delhi (Max Muller Bhavan 1993), France (1996, 1997, 2002), National Gallery of Modern Art (New Delhi 2003), Lalit Kala Academy (New Delhi 2003), Sakshi Gallery (Mumbai 2004), Dhaka and other places in Bangladesh (2006), and National Gallery of Modern Art (Mumbai 2006). His photographs form a part of the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi; Nord Pas-de-Calais, France; and the permanent gallery of St Xaviers College, Kolkata. His publications include Satyajit Ray at 70 with a forward by Henri Cartier-Bresson (1991, Eiffel Editions, Belgium and Orient Longman, India); Dramatic Moments (2000, Seagull, India); Manikda(Reminiscences of Satyajit Ray: 2000, Bingsha Shatabdi, India; Bengali and French editions); and Satyajit Ray: A Vision of Cinema with photographs by NemaiGhosh, drawings and scripts by Satyajit Ray and text and captions by Andrew Robinson (2005, IB Tauris, London). His book Faces of Indian Art Volume 1 was published in 2007 and Volumes 2 and 3 of the same book are forthcoming.