Marcus Bartley (22 April 1917 14 March 1993) was an

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people are a distinct minority group, minority community of mixed-race British and Indian ancestry. During the colonial period, their ancestry was defined as British paternal and Indian maternal heritage; post-independence, "Angl ...

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

known for his works predominantly in

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to the production of Film, motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Based in Film N ...

along with a few

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

, and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

films. He was the cinematographer of all time classics like '' Shavukaru'' (1950), '' Pathala Bhairavi'' (1951), '' Missamma'' (1955), '' Maya Bazaar'' (1957), '' Gundamma Katha'' (1962), '' Chemmeen'' (1965), '' Ram Aur Shyam'' (1967). He won the

National Film Award for Best Cinematography The National Film Award for Best Cinematography is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Rajat Kamal (S ...

in 1970 for '' Shanti Nilayam''. He also won the Gold Medal at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

for Best Cinematography, becoming the first Indian to win the award.

Early life

Marcus Bartley was born into an

family of renowned doctors in

Yercaud Yercaud, also spelt Erkad, is a town and hill station in Salem District in Tamil Nadu, India. Located in Servarayan Hills in the Eastern Ghats, it is situated at an altitude of . History Stone-age implements have been found near an ancient s ...

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

. While at school, Bartley was an amateur photographer.

Career

In 1940, Bartley headed to Bombay and joined ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' as press photographer, and then became a newsreel cameraman for British Movietone under the auspices of ''The Times of India''. Bartley did not have any formal training in photography. He worked hard and learned the craft on the job. Bartley arrived in Madras and joined Pragati Studios. His maiden film was '' Swarga Seema'' in 1945. This film showed his genius at black and white photography. The movie strengthened the friendship between him and the

B. N. Reddy Bommireddi Narasimha Reddi (16 November 1908 – 8 November 1977), professionally known as B. N. Reddi, was an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He was an early figure in the Telugu cinema. Many of his earlier films like Vande ...

, K. V. Reddy, and Nagi Reddi. Successively, Bartley worked in many studios such as National Studios, Newtone Studios and Vauhini Productions. He wielded camera for all the forty odd Vauhini movies including such great hits as '' Yogi Vemana'' (1947), '' Gunasundari Katha'' (1949), as well as Vijaya's productions '' Shavukaru'' (1950), '' Pathala Bhairavi'' (1951), '' Pelli Chesi Chudu'' (1952), '' Chandraharam'' (1954), '' Missamma'' (1955), '' Maya Bazaar'' (1957), '' Appu Chesi Pappu Koodu'' (1958), '' Gundamma Katha'' (1962), ''Sri Rajeswari Vilas Coffee Club'' (1976) etc. Most of the superhits of those times were made with his photographic hand at the camera. His specialty was the shots under the moonlight. Ramu Kariat signed him for the Malayalam film '' Chemmeen'' (1965). The film was released in 1965, to universal critical acclaim. The photography by Bartley was highly praised. Bartley didn't receive the National Award that year as portions of the film had to be completed by another cameraman. Cameraman U. Rajagopal who also shot the film later acknowledged that he was only called in to complete patchwork.

Working style

Bartley was known as a perfectionist. He didn’t believe in hierarchies and treated everyone the same. He would work with the screenwriter and director, understanding the screenplay, so he could work on his lighting style. He would work for nights before the commencement of shooting, lighting the set to make it perfect.

Personal life

He spoke fractured Telugu and

and did not understand

. Bartley had long suffered with

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

, but refused to go to a doctor and treated himself. In the final years of his life, Arriflex made him their authorised service person and Bartley would spend much time repairing lenses. He was shifted to Vijaya Hospital by Nagi Reddi where he was given personal attention.

Awards

* Recipient of the gold medal at the International Film Festival held at

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

for the movie '' Chemmeen'' in Malayalam in the year 1978. * He won the

in India in 1970 for '' Shanti Nilayam''. * He also won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Cinematographer for ''Shanti Nilayam'' in 1970.

Filmography

* ''Zindagi Jeene Ke Liye'' (1984) * '' Maamaankam'' (1979) * '' Yehi Hai Zindagi'' (1977) * ''Sri Rajeswari Vilas Coffee Club'' (1976) * ''Chakravakam'' (1974) * '' Ghar Ghar Ki Kahani'' (1970) * '' Shanti Nilayam'' (1969) * '' Saathi'' (1968) * '' Ram Aur Shyam'' (1967) * '' Chemmeen'' (1965) * '' Gundamma Katha'' (1962) * '' Jagadeka Veeruni Katha'' (1961) * '' Appu Chesi Pappu Koodu'' (1958) * '' Mayabazar'' (1957) * '' Missamma'' (1955) * '' Chandraharam'' (1954) * '' Kalyanam Panni Paar'' (1952) * '' Pelli Chesi Choodu'' (1952) * '' Patala Bhairavi'' (1951) * '' Shavukaru'' (1950) * '' Gunasundari Katha'' (1949) * '' Yogi Vemana'' (1947) * ''

Swargaseema ''Swargaseema'' is a 1945 Telugu language, Telugu-language drama film produced and directed by B.N. Reddi, B. N. Reddi and starring V. Nagayya, B. Jayamma and Bhanumathi Ramakrishna, Bhanumathi. The film marked the debut of Ghantasala (musician), ...

'' (1945)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bartley, Marcus Telugu film cinematographers 1917 births Anglo-Indian people 1993 deaths Best Cinematography National Film Award winners 20th-century Indian photographers Cinematographers from Tamil Nadu Artists from Chennai