The hunter, the cook, and the photographer

Ask someone to list three art forms and the answer will invariably include at least two of the following: Painting, Dance and Music. Of course, world cinema may scrape in alongside sculpture and literature. But the likes of Hollywood blockbusters, graphic art and graffiti are left by the wayside, as is photography.
When photojournalism emerged in the late 1920s it was broadly defined as a spontaneous and topical photographic narrative of human events. Over the decades the narrative flowed, almost to a standstill as motion picture grabbed the baton and sprinted to the finish line. Then, in the 1950s, photographers looked to the fine arts for inspiration and found it in composition, lighting, and of course emotion. These so-called value adds were leapt upon by newspaper editors, and the photojournalism as you know it today, was born
The 50s and 60s was also the golden age of Indian photojournalism. The greats like the TS Satyan, N Thyagarajan, Kishore Parek, S Paul and Raghu Rai, to name a few, brought images that melded informative content with emotional impact, even as they stuck to the journalistic values their artists embodied. These ethics held pride of place over aesthetics.
These great photojournalists put the use of perspective into practice. They gave their photographs a makeover using lighting, new angles, off-center frames, and had their subjects look away from the camera, rather than staring into it like they would in a rogues’ gallery. These greats also raised the bar for all the photojournalists that were to follow.
Photography and its informed criticism is still a nascent discipline. Technological advancements have meant that the study of photography has become a lifelong venture, rather than one that can be mastered in just a few years.
Museums and art galleries in this country have yet to recognize, and give prominence to the works of Indian photography and photojournalism masters. Unfortunately, in India we only tend to recognise the rich talent our country had, has, and will have, only after critics from the West have discovered them.
Like the father of modern photojournalism Henri Cartier-Bresson once said, “Actually, I'm not all that interested in the subject of photography. Once the picture is in the box, I'm not all that interested in what happens next. Hunters, after all, aren't cooks.”