Sunil Janah (17 April 1918 — 21 June 2012) was an Indian

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

and documentary photographer who worked in India in the 1940s. Janah documented India's independence movement, its peasant and labour movements, famines and riots, rural and tribal life, as well as the years of rapid urbanization and industrialization. He was best known for his coverage of the

Bengal famine of 1943 The Bengal famine of 1943 was a famine in the Bengal province of British India (present-day Bangladesh, West Bengal and eastern India) during World War II. An estimated 0.8 to 3.8 million Bengalis perished, out of a population of 60.3 millio ...

. The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of Padma Shri in 2012.

Life and work

Sunil Janah was born on 17 April 1918 in Dibrugarh, Assam but grew up in Kolkata. He attended St. Xavier's College, Kolkata at the University of Calcutta. There, he joined politically

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

students. Communist politician

Puran Chand Joshi Puran Chand Joshi (14 April 1907 – 9 November 1980), one of the early leaders of the communist movement in India. He was the general secretary of the Communist Party of India from 1935 to 1947. Early years Joshi was born on 14 April 1907, i ...

urged Janah to abandon his English studies and pursue a career in photography. Janah traveled to Bengal with

Chittaprosad Bhattacharya Chittaprosad Bhattacharya (1915-1978) was an Indian political artist of the mid-20th century. He preferred watercolor and printmaking, avoiding oil on canvas. Early life Born in 1915 in Naihati in present-day North 24 Parganas District, West ...

to photograph the damage caused by the 1943 famine. He moved with Bhattacharya to Bombay and joined the

Progressive Writers Association The Progressive Writers' Association or the Progressive Writers' Movement of India or ''Anjuman Tarraqi Pasand Mussanafin-e-Hind'' (( ur, ) or ''Akhil Bhartiya Pragatishil Lekhak Sangh'' (Hindi: अखिल भारतीय प्रगति� ...

and Indian People's Theatre Association. He was a co-founder of

Calcutta Film Society Calcutta Film Society was India’s second film society in the city of Kolkata (then Calcutta), West Bengal, India. It was founded in 1947, just after independence, by Satyajit Ray, Chidananda Dasgupta, RP Gupta, Bansi Chandragupta, Harisadhan ...

. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1972 and the Padma Bhushan in 2012. Noted for the beauty and technical quality of his compositions, Janah's photographs are significant in their historical content as well as their emotional connect. He was best known for his coverage of the

Photographer of the Nehruvian Era

In 'People's War' and after that 'People's Age' Janah used to have one page for a photo feature for which he photographed the lives of ordinary people, their struggles, the working class at work, rowing boats, catching fish, in coal mines, from men and women working in homes and fields to bow and arrow carrying tribal people, farmers and workers heading to protest, revolutionaries of Telangana and via these photographs he established the Communist Party's ideology and commitment amongst the people. Janah made portraits of Gandhi, Nehru, Jinnah, Sheikh Abdullah, Faiz, and J. Krishnamurthi. Photographer and curator

Ram Rahman Ram Rahman is a noted contemporary Indian photographer and curator. based in Delhi. He is one of the founding members of the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trus(SAHMAT)in New Delhi, a leader in the resistance to communal and sectarian forces in India throug ...

said, "Janah's work is the defining epic document of the last decade of the freedom struggle and the first decade of free India — a chronicler of the 'Nehruvian' years".

Death

He died on 21 June 2012 at his home in Berkeley, California due to natural causes. He is survived by his son, Arjun, who lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Publications

*Shadowing a Philanthropologist, By Ramachandra Guha, University of Chicago Press, 398 pp,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Janah, Sunil 1918 births 2012 deaths People from Dibrugarh district Indian photojournalists University of Calcutta alumni Documentary photographers Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts 20th-century Indian journalists Indian male journalists Journalists from Assam Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts 20th-century Indian photographers Photographers from Assam Indian expatriates in the United States