Meet Rajdeep Das | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rajdeep Das and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rajdeep, any advice for those thinking about whether to keep going or to give up?
In the most deserted days, when your account balance is so low that you feel like running away or worry about re-stocking food for the next week and yet leaving behind what you strived to do, so passionately, is not an option then you should keep going. In my case, I am a photographer and I do freelance work, so it’s really a blessing on some days and a curse on the other because sustaining anywhere is a tough thing to do and even in your darkest days, if doing that one thing is the giving you joy, peace, ability to think and the energy to fight with all the challenges that are lined ahead of you, then giving up was never an option.

And lastly, if you believe in what you do, then have faith. No one else shall decide for you, but only you..
The moon is still in the sky during the day, but it shines bright when its time comes.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I did my graduation in Computer Science in Kolkata (a city in West Bengal, India), and I hold a B.Sc Honours Degree. Art was something that I never thought of, but happened to me just before my graduation. One thing I knew back then is that, even though I love Computers and hardware, I do not wish to study further and therefore I should do something which will give me freedom and where I can function on my own.
My father soon gifted me a refurbished Nikon D5200 and initially I worked in an Ed-tech company to support my Photography but soon realised, working for a company 6 days a week ins’t doing justice to my Photography even though I was financially helping myself. After working for 7 months, I moved to Mumbai in search of a better life and of-course to do justice to my art and creativity. Moving to Mumbai is a tough thing to do because this city is the most expensive in India and sustaining here is a challenge in itself. I don’t know what sets me apart from others, but I know that not everyone can leave their comfort zone and take a blind leap of faith just on the basis of their gut feeling and how they feel about themselves. It is not easy today, it was not easy and it will not be easy either, but I am thankful that I at least had that strength in me to jump for a completely uncertain path and more importantly had faith on myself to do something I really love. And above all I think I am proud of myself because I did justice myself and even though the initial stages are extremely challenging I never felt like giving up, so no matter what I do in the future I’ll be always proud on my 22 year old self for doing justice to my passion over anything else.
Professionally I am yet to reach a certain stage but I am sure success can never be defined by achieving something, it’s a never ending process, rather it’s actually the small learnings and achievements that you gather along the way and maybe you can collectively call it success, for example, 4 years ago I dreamt of living alone in Mumbai with a good understanding of Art and Photography, today I live in Mumbai with a little bit of understanding of Art but now I dream of something else and maybe again after 4 years I’ll be able to achieve that and I might call myself successful for getting there, but in simple words, it’s like going up a staircase, every step feels like a victory.
Any process in the life of a human is not easy, if it is easy, it will not stay for long or it might not be that helpful, over the years I have known one thing, you’ll have to dig your hands into a lot of things to find that one thing for you and once you find it, stay true to yourself. Never think you have achieved something or fill yourself with Ego, always stay humble and focused and treat yourself like a beggar, starve yourself for knowledge. Keep good people around you who might be harsh on you but always there to protect your back. For me personally getting like minded people was always challenging, making them a part of your artwork is sometimes tough when the society is wired to think in a certain way, and you choose to be different. The only way to fight back is to again have faith on yourself and your art and to keep working on it, one step at a time. 🙂
As of now, I am working on myself to be authentic in terms of my artistic vision and be unique about it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love driving and personally find undiscovered places as the sweet spots.
So since I am currently in Mumbai and if I have a weeks time the itinerary would be like
1. Night drive in Mumbai, trying out the local food stalls and also visiting the beaches.
2. A trip to road trip to Pune, exploring the nature at its best.
3. A trip to the local market in Colaba, and therefore walk around the streets of South Bombay.
4. A pint of beer in Bombay’s famous Leopold Cafe.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I think I got my interest in photography from my father, in a certain way, YES.
So I think the main credit should belong to my father for entertaining my thoughts and letting me take the decision in my life and thereby also supporting it in numerous ways.
My mother for believing in me.
All those women who let me experiment with a variety of things and helped me grow as a Photographer.
A special thanks to the woman, whose name I do not wish to take, but who was there as a lover, friend, muse during the initial stages of my career as a Photographer and also when I took a leap of faith in 2022 by moving into a new city. She stood there without judgements and complete faith on me.
As a photographer I have taken a lot of inspiration from famous photographers and their books, few of them who had the most impact are Helmut Newton, Nobuyoshi Araki, Peter Lindbergh, Ren Hang amongst others. 🙂

Website: https://www.vogue.com/photovogue/photographers/232518

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