Affectionately called ‘Benu Da’ by well wishers, photographers and students across India, Benu Sen will be remembered as a legend of Indian photography. His illustrious career was marked with numerous honors.
The few notable ones being, he was the third ‘Master of Photography’ (MFIAP) in the world, held post of President of ‘The Photographic Association of Dum Dum’ for more than two decades, and was the Secretary-General of the Federation of Indian Photography (FIP) since 1997. The founder Secretary-General of FIP, Dr. G Thomas, once described Benu Da as the “Wizard of the Dark Room of Photography. He was loved and adored by his students for his single-minded devotion to the development of photography as an art.
As the founder-member of the Photographic Association of Dum Dum (PAD), he nurtured this institution till his demise, and taught photography “free of cost”.
His notable contribution to photography was an extraordinary fine grain black & white film developer for tropical countries — the BS4, Tonorama and macro pictography. He was the first Indian to introduce color photogram and color separation from B&W negatives. An reputed photo artist, his works are even preserved in several international museums across the world. He was a great International Salon Exhibitor for more than 50 years, and was bestowed with more than thousand international awards for his artistic flair. In appreciation of his contribution to photography, Sen was recently conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Government of India.
We at Smart Photography offer our sincere condolences, and may his soul rest in peace.
