Active Stocks
Thu Mar 28 2024 15:59:33
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 155.90 2.00%
  1. ICICI Bank share price
  2. 1,095.75 1.08%
  1. HDFC Bank share price
  2. 1,448.20 0.52%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 428.55 0.13%
  1. Power Grid Corporation Of India share price
  2. 277.05 2.21%
Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  The spirit of a jungle
BackBack

The spirit of a jungle

A photographer couple's trips into the forest reveal that the perfect shot is often one that reflects an ecological balance

Photo: Sriskandh SubramanianPremium
Photo: Sriskandh Subramanian

The cool breeze smelt of lush green sal trees as our jeep entered the Bandhavgarh forest in Madhya Pradesh. An imposing fort and palash trees with flaming red flowers added to the forest’s mystique. This was Kanika’s first trip into the wild, and though she spotted a tiger, that’s not what she captured with her five-year-old Nikon D40 camera. Her first wildlife photograph attempted to capture the essence of the woods that February, four years ago.

Two years before that, it was in this very forest that Sriskandh got hooked on to wildlife photography. One afternoon, during a visit to the national park known for its high density of tigers, he saw Mirchaini, a female tiger, sitting in the middle of the dirt track with her two 18-month-old cubs. He sat, transfixed, in his jeep for over 2 hours. They say that you never forget your first sighting of a wild tiger. Observing these magnificent creatures from such close quarters changed Sriskandh’s life—he went on to photograph 100 tigers across 10 tiger reserves and continues to document their lives with keen interest. He knows each tiger he has photographed by their stripes. He has seen them grow, give birth and die. It is a relationship that will outlast everything else that Sriskandh, a climate change professional, does.

We’re not professional photographers, but we invested in equipment—advanced SLR cameras, such as the Canon EOS 70D and EOS 7D Mark II, and 70-200mm f/2.8L and 300mm f/4L telephoto lenses. Many things are needed to make a good wildlife image. According to us, it is a combination of planning, intelligence gathering, conceptualization, some quick thinking on one’s feet—as things happen very quickly in the forest—and, of course, luck.

Once, during the summer of 2014, we were tracking a tigress called ST3 in Rajasthan’s Sariska Tiger Reserve. We followed her pugmarks till the top of a culvert, after which they disappeared. We waited for hours listening to the sounds of the forest, trying to pick up the faintest clue that would give away her location. Finally, we tired of the wait. Just as we were about to leave, the tigress jumped up from the culvert and landed right next to the jeep. She was as surprised as we were.

For Kanika, a social entrepreneur, wildlife photography captures another sort of the elusive—one that is spiritual. It is not important for her to get a perfect shot; the feeling that the photograph conveys is primary. The composition must be compelling and make one appreciate life and its coexistence with nature. Her photographs are in some ways attempts at a natural theology, reifying the lay of the land, the trees, landscapes and colours.

A sojourn into the jungle comes with its own set of challenges. One’s equipment is in constant danger of dust, dampness and other variable weather conditions. Accommodation in several national parks is discomfiting; the food is barely edible at times. But the most critical issue is the lack of medical facilities in several reserves. We felt this most keenly, and with great dismay, during our last trip.

We had visited the Pench Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra to spend New Year’s Eve with friends and colleagues from the small wildlife photographers’ community, including senior photographer Rakesh Sahai. During dinner on New Year’s Eve, he spoke about the lack of experimentation with monochrome in wildlife photography. Intrigued, we asked him to show us some of his black and white works, and he did: a marvellous monochrome shot of a single-horned rhinoceros bathing at the water in Kaziranga National Park, Assam. His eyes lit up with joy as he spoke of the camaraderie he felt with the animal while taking that shot.

A monochrome image may seem counter-intuitive in the genre of wildlife photography, but the play of light and motion in the absence of colours needs prowess of composition. This can make the photograph much more powerful and captivating.

That was Sahai’s last meal. He suffered a cardiac arrest early next morning, with no immediate medical assistance at hand.

Sahai left us with the inspiration to preserve our passion for wildlife photography and explore monochrome as a form. But he also left us thinking of what we do as somehow coming full circle—the chase, the miss, the disappointment, the fun, love and appreciation, and above all, life and death all coming together.

Kanika Pal, 32, is an award winning corporate social responsibility professional and a social entrepreneur at Solutions for Clean & Healthy Environment Foundation, which works for sustainability in artisans’ livelihoods.

Sriskandh Subramanian, 33, is director, climate and sustainability, at Microenergy Credits, a social enterprise.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
More Less
Published: 28 Jan 2016, 06:54 PM IST
Next Story footLogo
Recommended For You
Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App