Skateboarding: Documenting The Marginalised Voices Of The Youth Of Tripura

Souradeep Rakshit

“Shooting people is one of the toughest things to do,” says Agartala-based photographer Souradeep Rakshit.

Getting to know someone on a personal level before clicking them goes a long way in creating soulful portraits. If a connection or bond is not established before a photoshoot, it creates a sort of disjunction between the photographer and his or her subject. In order to capture someone in their most vulnerable and spontaneous moments, one needs to connect with them and get involved in the whole process, thereby eliciting more natural responses.

Souradeep’s recent project – a music video on skaters and dancers from Tripura – shot by him and his team, thecreatiflab, was an initiative that he had been most passionately involved in, throughout. Having been someone who was always interested in skateboarding, he says, “I was ecstatic to document their style and culture through my lens.”

“I had even got myself a skateboard once,” laughs Souradeep, “but that didn’t work out for me.”

But he was really impressed by the kind of enthusiasm shown by the skaters, which motivated him, even more, to take up the challenging task of documenting their craft.

“While trying new moves, they kept falling on their back, but that didn’t stop them from moving forward.”

“Being young and motivated, they have the will to do more, and are putting skateboarding and hip-hop culture on Tripura’s map,” says Souradeep, with whom Homegrown even went ahead and had a quick chat about what ticks him off artistically.

Here are the questions we hurled at him:

Souradeep Rakshit

I. If you could propose and lead a project with the Indian Government, what would it be?

I would love for the Indian government to document the different cultures of India as well as the ways in which different communities in India live.

II. Is there any favourite work of your own?

There is one photo from the last series that I was working on where I was able to portray both the expression of my muse and the ambience around her very nicely.