An instinctive shot

Prashant Panjiar feels Kishore Parekhs’s picture of a Dhaka street during the ’71 war is a timeless piece in photojournalism
The picture of a street in Dhaka during the 1971 Bangladesh War, shot by Kishore Parekh, is a classic in news photography. Two Mukti Bahini fighters are shown crouching on the street with their rifles on the left side of the frame whereas on the foreground, you can see a boot, its lace trailing towards the bottom of the picture. The street is shown to be ending in infinity. I even included this picture in my book Definitive Images of India because it is a timeless piece in photojournalism.

Apart from its brilliant composition, specially the low angle position from which it was shot, the photograph stands out because it was taken instinctively by Parekh in the thick of the battle. In the middle of adversity when there’s no time to think, it’s amazing how Pakreh managed to can such a stunning shot.
It’s obvious from the image that its creator was caught in a crossfire. Parekh was not commissioned by any organisation to do the shoot, he financed it by himself. But apart from the enterprise of the creator, the image, by itself, is fantastic.

Photography during wartime or riots or violent demonstrations does not allow you the luxury of planning the composition of a picture.
You’ve got to internalise the whole process and be able to act instinctively and instantaneously without compromising on aesthetics. Parekh’s picture epitomises this very facet of photojournalism. One look at the picture and you know that a lot of training, internalisation, talent and courage has gone into it.