Anindito Mukherjee

Economics, society, daily life

It was thrilling to look through the viewfinder of my father’s camera as a child. I always wanted to go around with it snapping photos, but I only got to do that when there was no film inside.

I started my career as an assistant to advertising photographers. I positioned light, carried equipment, developed prints (it was film back then). In between I peeped to see their camera settings. Every step taught me something. I have no formal training in photography.

My first assignment was for a tabloid newspaper in India to document the dismal conditions of government hospitals in New Delhi.

I had just left my job in advertising for the love of photojournalism and, being on trial with an Indian newspaper, I had to prove myself to secure a permanent position. The first few hours yielded nothing, so I kept shooting the poor state of the hospital with its dirt, crowded corridors and waiting patients.

The breakthrough happened as I was leaving the hospital, when I found myself in a room where surgical gloves had been left to dry on a rope and on hospital benches.

This left a big mark on me because it taught me to keep on looking for the photos that best tell the story.

My work motto has always been: never be content, look for more.

My pictures are for everyone. I believe that my photographs should capture the right moment and have enough emotion so that they speak to anyone who sees them.

Those I respect the most are my critics. They encourage me to work better.