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 usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

people. He owned the Rajan School of Photography.

Early life

Bandi Rajan Babu was born at

Korutla Korutla municipality (also Koratla) is the second largest town and revenue division in the Jagtial district in the Indian state of Telangana. It is a historical town ruled by Jain Kings and second largest town in Jagtial district. It is the h ...

, in the

Karimnagar district Karimnagar 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, Jagityal, Sircilla, Siddipet, Jangaon, Hanamkonda district and ...

(

Jagtial district Jagtial district is a district located in the northern region of the Indian state of Telangana. Its headquarters is Jagtial. The district shares boundaries with Nirmal, Mancherial, Karimnagar, Peddapalli, Sircilla and Nizamabad districts. Ge ...

) of the Indian state of

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

Early life

Rajan took to serious photography in 1960 after joining the

Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University may refer to: * Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad * Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada * Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Anantapur * Jawaharlal Nehru Technolog ...

. 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 one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

of Great Britain, an Associate of the International Federation of Photographic Art, 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 (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

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, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, 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