Ripan was born and raised tropical to Cooch Behar in the state of West Bengal. He grew up in a small village well-nigh 6 to 7 km from the town, in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas. During his diaper he spent like many children in the village most of his time outside, chasing insects and other critters, towers an interest in and love for nature. He still lives in the village, surrounded by nature. He prefers the relative peace and wifely in the village over the hectic live in the city, where he won’t spend increasingly than 3 to 4 hours tops. And having nature at his doorstep offers him the opportunity to spend as much time outside as possible.

Firefly in flight. © Ripan Biswas

Inspiration

“My father was my first inspiration. He had a camera and loved capturing family wires with tons of snaps. So in 2007, when I became a teacher and my father gave me my first camera, I started photographing everything I saw in the same way. I had veritably no focus.

In these first years of my life as a photographer, I knew no nature photographers. Living in a small village, I had very little wangle to books, magazines, and the Internet. And besides, I had very little interest in those things at the time. It wasn’t until social media took hold that looking at other photographers’ work began to play an important role in my life. Browsing through all the photos really inspired me and helped me develop my own taste.

Weaver ants cooperating with each other. © Ripan Biswas

Today I am very much inspired by Dhritiman Mukherjeee, one of the most respected wildlife photographers from India today. His work has been featured on BBC, National Geographic, The New York Times, WWF, etc. Dhritiman focuses on everything there is to see in nature, both on land and whilom and unelevated water. What I revere most well-nigh his work is that his photos unchangingly tell you something you didn’t know. Flipside source of inspiration is the European photographer, Javier Aznar. Javier is moreover a photographer who tells stories and he focuses on small critters.

In my opinion there are very few photographers who really tell a story with their photos, the majority show trappy documentary portraits, which of undertow is unconfined but not the same.”

Stream ruby damselfly duelling for territory. © Ripan Biswas

Preparation

“Over the years my preparation has reverted drastically. At first I grabbed my camera without any plan and pointed my camera at everything that came within range. These days I plan my photo trips meticulously. And then when I go out, I know where to go, what to squint out for and which season is the best. This form of preparation moreover ensures that the number of photos I take on the spot is decreasing.

I am not a full time photographer. I have to plan my photography trips thoughtfully within my schedule as a school teacher. That is why it is scrutinizingly untellable for me to go on a photo trip upalong for 25 to 30 days. But I don’t mind, I like to shoot tropical to home. It offers me the opportunity to study my subject well beforehand. I like to focus on one species in one place. And then photograph for 3 to 4 days and go when later if necessary.

Cormorants resting. © Ripan Biswas

Spending time at home moreover provides me with moments to read well-nigh my subject in books and on the Internet. I moreover have time to squint at photos from other photographers. And I moreover invest time in consulting other photographers and scientists whom I can undeniability friends. When I’m finally out in the field, my preparation moreover helps me decide which shots I shouldn’t take, considering I’ve once seen those shots from other photographers.

So if asked, I would teach not to go upalong for much time. Usually that doesn’t requite you unbearable time to thoughtfully study your subject on the spot. When you are in a place that you don’t know, surrounded by animals and their policies that you don’t know, it is very difficult to take unique photos that have not been taken surpassing by other photographers and show something new and unknown.”

Weaver ant queens peekaboo eggs. © Ripan Biswas

Signature

“I don’t know if I have a well-spoken signature and I’m not sure if I would like to be associated with a particular style. What I do know is that my tideway to photography has reverted over the years. In the early stages, I just wanted to get good photos that would make people say, “Wow, that’s a good photo!”
Nowadays all I want to do is take pictures that tell something new, that reveal new facts well-nigh the subject. Or introduce new techniques. Like the picture of the fungus. Here I used a backlight that made the mold squint like snow. And then a little wink on the front to bring when some detail on the hapless zombie spider. So I hope that what defines my photography is the effort I put in to bring something new to the public, to surprise the public.”

Weaver ants taking a wrenched piece of leaf to their nest. © Ripan Biswas

Ambition

“Nature is having a nonflexible time. But most people don’t realize this, they don’t realize that they are the main reason for this. But it is they who hold the key. People can contribute to conservation if they wilt increasingly enlightened of what they buy. If we show them pictures of struggling or plane disappearing animals, the majority will say we should all be increasingly shielding and help prevent this natural decline. And of undertow they support the undeniability to stop well-spoken wearing the natural jungle in favor of monocultural palm oil plantations. But surpassing the day is up, they stop at the supermarket to buy goods with palm oil in them considering they don’t scarecrow to read the label.

So we have to work harder to get their attention. We can show them the eyeful of nature, but that is not enough. We need to show something they haven’t seen before, the ugliness in nature and the problems nature faces. We need to take pictures that move the regulars emotionally. They need to realize that animals have equal rights to live. And that they all play an important role in our ramified ecosystem. And that applies to the large animals such as elephants, lions and whales, but moreover to the smallest, the critters that we overlook and that we do not know. In the end disrupting the ecosystem due to species extinction will turn the world into an uninhabitable place.

Crimson sunber collecting nectar. © Ripan Biswas

Our work should emphasize that nature just outside your door or plane in your home is moreover beautiful. Striking photography can help emphasize the eyeful and detail of the small and often unwanted critters. Like the cockroach, which will sooner outwear us.

I certainly realize that most people like the photos, but only few will go out and really observe these animals. That’s why I’m happy to be a teacher. This gives me the opportunity to show the photos to the children, to make them enlightened at a young age of the importance of everything that is in nature. These children get very excited and many of them want to wilt photographers themselves.

This is so important considering they are our future and they need to wipe up our mess. Considering there is no planet B.”

A male dancing frog flagging his foot. © Ripan Biswas

Photography contest

“The importance of participating in photo contests such as Nature Photographer of the Year is that you have a serious audience. This is completely variegated from most of the viewers you reach on social media. The competition regulars is really interested and curious. Their genuine interest makes them unshut to the message you put into your work.

Another wholesomeness of these photo contests is that it brings together a hodgepodge of all the unconfined and inspiring photos that show the eyeful of nature and the way it is threatened. Therefore it’s important that these contests have a unconfined media strategy. When the winning photos gets unbearable sustentation in the media, it is picked up by the influencers, who in turn have to influence our policy makers worldwide.

Beetle mating. © Ripan Biswas

And last but not least, when you’re among the winners of a contest, people start paying sustentation and taking a largest squint at your work, wondering what you’re showing and what you’re trying to say.

If you want to be competitive in these competitions, you have to remember that any photo inward the competition will squint good. Aided by all the new technology in modern cameras with wide autofocus and the worthiness to handle upper ISOs, it’s nearly untellable to get bad photos. That is why good has wilt the stereotype and ‘different’ is the new good. A technically good photo is no longer good enough, your work has to stand out. Only the eye-catching photos will be the final winners.”

Crab and a snail in mangrove habitat. © Ripan Biswas

Social Media

“I know that most photographers only use social media platforms like IG and FB to showcase their work. But for me, using these platforms is mainly to inspire me, to take a good squint at the work of other photographers.

As I became a increasingly serious photographer, FB as one of the first platforms has definitely played an important role in my development, as it was very important for me to squint at the work of other photographers and learn from them.”

Caterpillar of a butterfly. © Ripan Biswas

Covid-19 effects

“During the pandemic it was difficult for me and so many others to go outside. All the increasingly so considering as a teacher I had to work from home most of the time. At the same time, the situation gave me a good opportunity to squint virtually my firsthand surroundings. Spending so much time in and virtually my house gave me the endangerment to see things in a variegated way. To squint at things we normally don’t see anymore. Plus, it gave me time to study more. So without all, I consider it time well spent.”

Parasitic wasp. © Ripan Biswas

At the end of the interview I asked Ripas the question: “if you could ask flipside nature photographer one question, who would that be and which question would you ask?

Ripas replied: “There are many photographers and I would like to ask them many questions. It is far too difficult for me to segregate just one photographer and one question.”

Stream glory damselfly. © Ripan Biswas