NEWS

Photography student flourishes in spring

Apr 25, 2014 | General News, Liberal Arts

Doing anything less than his best is not an option.
This is how Deepanjan Mukhopadhyay approaches his work. Mukhopadhyay, a junior photography major at Louisiana Tech from India, has already stacked up awards and a job history during his time at Tech, and he’s not planning to stop any time soon.
Deepanjan Mukhopadhyay

Deepanjan Mukhopadhyay


“I believe in talent but I also think I am not one of the most talented photographers out there,” he said. “I attribute my success mostly to hard work and a little bit to my intelligence.”
This spring particularly has been fruitful for Mukhopadhyay, who serves as the head photographer for the student run newspaper, The Tech Talk, and the photo editor for the university yearbook, Lagniappe. He has won considerable accolades for his work on staff. For the Society for Professional Journalists, Region 12, he was named winner for photo illustrations and general news photography. Earlier this year, he received third place for Best Press Photographer and second place in news photography from the Southeast Journalism Conference.
“Deep has set the bar high for quality photography in his role as head photographer for the student publications we produce,” said Dr. Reginald Owens, chair of the journalism department. “Just as important to him is organization. He has set up a system that with the newspaper, the yearbook and the magazine where photo requests are handled smoothly. Not only does he have good visual skills, both as a photographer and painter, but he is also an excellent writer. His communication skills are superb. This combination of skills is rare in one person. He is a shinning star.”
Also, one of his unnamed photographs was published in the April 2014 edition of The Sun magazine. Another photograph, “American-Football_Ruston-USA” was judged among the top 30 submitted and was part of the exhibition held at the Center for Arts and Culture in Quebec, Canada. The photograph, as part of the exhibition, will move to the National Center for Exhibition, also in Canada, during the summer. Mukhopadhyay’s work was also chosen for a juried exhibition at PhotoPlace Gallery in Middlebury, Vt. His photographs will be displayed there in June.
He was chosen as a finalist for the Nikon 34th Annual College Photography Competition for the Photographer’s Forum Magazine, and his work was shown at the Third Annual University of Louisiana System Academic Summit in Lafayette.
“Deepanjan consistently makes thought-provoking photographs that challenge his peers to create strong work,” Frank Hamrick, an associate professor of photography, said. “He is well rounded in all aspects of image making but tends to focus the most on documentary style photography and has received an incredible amount of attention for his published work while in college. I expect him to go far after he completes his studies.”
His career goals after college are already in place, too.
“My goal for the first part of my career is to work for a magazine or photo agencies and or photo cooperatives which will allow me to work in a documentary style,” Mukhopadhyay said. “I would like to do assignments that involve researching and is spread out over weeks rather than shoot daily hard news. For immigration related reasons, I am looking to work as a university photographer to begin my career. Getting a master’s degree part- or full-time is also another option I am looking at. That will depend on the amount of scholarships or funding I receive.”
This summer, Mukhopadhyay will serve as photo intern with the Lexington Herald Leader in Kentucky and turned one down with Magnum Photos in New York.
“Working for a daily paper and photographing with intensity and under pressure is what I am looking forward to,” he said. “I am also looking forward to the change in my regular shooting environment. I think I will gain a lot of experience out of working in a professional environment.”