Bandi Rajan Babu (9 February 1938 – 25 August 2011) was an Indian photographer. He is known for his black and white pictures of

tribal The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

people. He owned the Rajan School of Photography.

Early life

Bandi Rajan Babu was born at Korutla, in the

Karimnagar district Karimnagar district, also known as Elagandula district, is one of the 33 districts of the Indian state of Telangana. Karimnagar city is its administrative headquarters. The district shares boundaries with Peddapalli district, Peddapalli, Jagitya ...

( Jagtial district) of the Indian state of

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

Early life

Rajan took to serious photography in 1960 after joining the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University. Rajan Babu was all set to become a painter until given a Kodak camera. "One of my cousins presented me with a camera when I was in my seventh class and I casually clicked some photos that were appreciated by all, and that was the seeding of a photographer in me. Later, when I joined the five-year diploma course in commercial art, I came across Raja Triambak Raj Bahadur, a pioneer in pictorial photography. It was he who inspired me to wield the camera. And here I am today from a painter to a photographer."

Career

He started as a lecturer at JNTU Fine Arts College. Later, he established his own school and mastered the craft of ‘pictorial photography'. He was a Fellow of the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is the world's oldest photographic society having been in continuous existence since 1853. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as th ...

of Great Britain, an Associate of the

International Federation of Photographic Art International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

, France, and an Honorary Fellow of the AP State Akademi of Photography. He became a pictorial, fashion and glamour, industrial and advertising photographer. He drew inspiration from Raja Triambak Raj Bahadur, the first from former

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

to be honored with the status of Associate of Britain's Royal Photographic Society. He later worked as a scientific photographer in International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics. He opened his studio in 1978 and thereafter, was among India's leading photographers.

Personal life

He married and had three kids. He has five grand children.

Recognition

Rajan got his first international honor from

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, received the APRS honor in 1983, and followed it up with the Fellowship of the

in 1987. Apart from winning national and international awards, he is the only Fellow of Royal Photographic Society from AP.

References

External links

Article on Bandi Rajan Babu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Babu, Bandi Rajan 20th-century Indian photographers Telugu people People from Karimnagar district 1938 births 2011 deaths Photographers from Andhra Pradesh