Swati Chakraborty
Artist
I met my grandfather through a photograph. He sits there on a sturdy piece of black-and-white paper, holding a two-year-old me - my only proof of ever having received any grandfatherly love.
As I veered from photographing for pleasure to choosing photography as a profession, that black-and-white photograph stayed with me, reminding me how photographs can turn moments into memories. Perhaps that is why I am drawn so deeply to portraits.
The people I photograph and the stories I come to know during my sessions inform my social vision and fire my creative imagination. Though awards and recognition have been a tremendous source of encouragement, my stories remain my greatest source of inspiration.
I am a portrait, fashion, and fine art photographer. Born in India, I began my career as a Human Resources professional with a passion for photography, which I began exploring seriously and professionally after moving to the United States.
Over the years, my work has received several international awards and has been published in magazines. I have earned the title of Master Photographer from Professional Photographers of America (PPA) and am also an ICON Master Photographer.
While portraiture remains at the heart of my practice, my curiosity continues to take me in new directions. I am currently experimenting with still life, intentional camera movement (ICM), light painting, and in-camera multiple exposures - exploring how movement, light, layers, and the unexpected can transform what the camera sees into something imagined and felt.
Through all these explorations, I keep returning to what first drew me to photography: its ability to preserve something fleeting - a moment, a person, a story - and make it endure.
Technique
Digital + physical / Photography - Portrait, Fashion, Fine Art, Macro, In-camera Multiple Exposures, Light Painting and ICM (intentional camera movement)
Made with: Camera, Strobes, Modifiers, light painting tools