As Satyajit Ray goes viral again, rare photographs show what made him great

The photography of Nemai Ghosh, erstwhile an histrion successful Little Theatre, the theatre institution of actor-director Utpal Dutt, and champion known for his photo-biography of auteur Satyajit Ray, captured implicit 23 years, has busy, layered frames. Yet, arsenic successful the champion of inactive photography, the absorption is ever connected eloquent moments. Take 1 representation from Faces and Facets: Satyajit Ray successful Colour, an ongoing accumulation of 126 colour photos taken by him of Ray astatine enactment betwixt 1970 and 1991, besides the taxable of DAG’s eponymous publication released successful 2020.

In 1 photograph clicked connected the sets of Ghare Baire (1984), Ray is directing pb histrion Swatilekha Sengupta successful beforehand of a mirror. The histrion seems to beryllium taking successful instructions arsenic the manager himself, looking down, fingers placed against the mirror, is focussed intensely connected a motion oregon item that helium wants successful the frame. Ghosh’s lens is arsenic focussed connected Ray’s look and hands arsenic Ray’s is connected however to cleanable that country oregon frame.

Ghosh was Ray’s friend-cum-biographer, destined to a beingness successful photography aft a person gave him a Canonet QL17 fixed-lens camera recovered near down successful a taxi. He started utilizing it to chronicle Calcutta, among different things. A fewer years later, successful 1968, Ray’s creation manager Bansi Chandragupta asked him to articulation the accumulation portion arsenic a inactive photographer.

The exhibition, portion of DAG’s postulation of Ghosh’s images of Ray, celebrates the photographer’s bequest — and, of course, his subject, the astir well-known Indian filmmaker astir the satellite some critically and historically, and precocious a taxable of an Instagram statement astir the prime of Indian cinema audiences. But much importantly for the Artificial Intelligence (AI) age, the amusement offers the meditative and nuanced acquisition of looking astatine analogue photography. Analogue is simply a manner question today, and wellness aspiration. And photography arsenic an creation signifier is astatine the bosom of it.

Influencer from a pre-influencer era

Ray doesn’t spell retired of fashion. Recently, an archival clip of Ray defending his anti-religious dogma stance successful his 1960 movie Devi became viral. In the interview, successful his cut-glass English, Ray says: Indian audiences are “fairly backward” and “unsophisticated”. That rapidly turned into a polarising statement astir what is bully cinema. Bollywood and populism supremacists adjacent utilized manager Aditya Dhar’s words to reason that Ray, who would person been 105 this year, was elitist and disconnected from wide audiences. Defending his superhit Dhurandhar (2025) against those who recovered it propagandist, Dhar had said, “The Indian assemblage is really precise very smart.”

But what’s striking astir this amusement is the enactment down the fixed-lens camera of Ghosh.

In 2026, erstwhile Ray is discussed, virality matters. Today, with AI efficiency, cinematic simulacrum is simply a substance of seconds. Beyond his humanities and influential worth — and his presumption of the satellite and audiences — Ghosh, whom Ray called his “Boswell with a camera”, recorded moments that marque america spot the dilatory pain process of the director’s craft, and what went into the dilated architecture of a Ray film.

One representation has Ray successful the mediate of editing with the Moviola instrumentality (the archetypal editing instrumentality to beryllium invented), with a beverage cupful successful 1 hand, curiosity, a consciousness of urgency and fastidiousness informing his facial expressions, portion his lad Sandip bends implicit to look astatine the process, Ray’s exertion Dulal Dutta by his side. In a fewer of the images, dispersed implicit DAG’s sprawling space, we spot Ray successful moments of heavy reflection successful a book-crammed den astatine his Bishop Lefroy Road location successful Kolkata.

Process is astatine the psyche of this assemblage of Ghosh’s works. He was contiguous connected each acceptable of Ray’s films opening with Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (1969) — unobtrusive but intentional, arsenic chapters of the 2 books published by DAG connected Ghosh’s enactment (Nemai Ghosh: Satyajit Ray & Beyond, 2013 and Faces and Facets: Ray successful Colour, 2020) show.

It is universally accepted, astatine slightest extracurricular of Silicon Valley heavy tech labs, that mental, cerebral and originative processes are what distinguishes the enactment oregon artists oregon storytellers today. Ashish Anand, CEO and managing director, DAG (formerly Delhi Art Gallery) explains, “What distinguishes Ghosh’s enactment is that it is rooted successful sustained observation. He did not photograph Satyajit Ray arsenic a personage oregon nationalist fig alone; helium photographed a life, a signifier and a originative temperament implicit much than 2 decades. There is patience, spot and an bonzer extent of looking successful these images.”

He adds, “Beyond the films themselves, Ray reminds america of the value of extent successful an property of speed, and of thoughtful engagement successful an property progressively defined by distraction.”

Archiving taste memory

Much of the affluent documentation of Ray’s bequest constituent to the information that his satellite was built connected process. From preparing to observing, chiselling and repeating. Whether designing a poster, composing a people oregon directing a film, helium approached each task with the aforesaid seriousness of purpose. What distinguishes this repository of photographs is besides its humanities and typical significance. It preserves a ocular grounds of a peculiar benignant of Indian cinema beyond the scope of wide media and formulaic adaptation.

DAG acquired the rights for Ghosh’s photographs of Ray, his actors and movie sets and astir 120,000 negatives from the lensman himself successful 2006 arsenic portion of a broader effort to fortify their engagement with photographic archives. Ghosh passed distant successful 2020 astatine the property of 85. By then, his enactment had already received sizeable nationalist and planetary designation done exhibitions and screenings associated with platforms specified arsenic the Cannes Film Festival, Festival d’Automne à Paris, and Festival des 3 Continents successful Nantes.

Anand says, “Through photography, we summation entree to creator processes, societal histories and lived experiences that mightiness different beryllium lost. For younger audiences successful particular, archives specified arsenic Ghosh’s assistance make ocular literacy — the quality to work images critically and recognize however they signifier our knowing of history. In that sense, photography remains 1 of the astir almighty acquisition tools disposable to us.”

Depth of field

Ray revealed a batch astir his process successful the Shyam Benegal documentary connected him simply titled Satyajit Ray (1982). When Benegal asks his idol astir form, Ray replies, “I would accidental that I americium not funny successful signifier to statesman with. I’m funny successful the taxable and density. How telling tin you marque your images and however overmuch tin you battalion into a movie without utilizing gimmicks, oregon immoderate you telephone them — unconventional photography and editing.”

Ray is the filmmaker helium is due to the fact that helium is rooted successful the section sinews of Bengal, successful the champion of 19th and aboriginal 20th period Bengali lit from which galore of his films are adapted, and the heavy attraction to the filmmaking process, successful bid to execute the density helium talks about. Ghosh’s fixed-lens camera patiently and distinctly captures this prime successful him. The aforesaid density came to beryllium recovered successful Ghosh’s work, excessively — not postcard-like oregon deliberately framed, but arsenic existent moments starring up to crafting cinema that the satellite doesn’t forget.

Faces and Facets: Satyajit Ray successful Colour, astatine DAG, Delhi, till July 4.

The writer is simply a Mumbai-based writer and wellness advocate, and down the preventive wellness and longevity media IP @the_slow_fix.