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{{Short description|Indian cinematographer}}
{{For|the political scientist (born 1949)|Subrata K. Mitra}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2018}}

{{Infobox scientist
| name = Subrata Mitra
| image =
| birth_place = [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]]
| birth_date = 12 October 1930
| death_place = Kolkata, West Bengal, India
| death_date = 7 December 2001 (aged 70)
| fields = Photography & Cinematography
| awards = [[Padma Shri]]
}}

'''Subrata Mitra''' (12 October 1930 – 7 December 2001) was an Indian [[cinematographer]]. Acclaimed for his work in ''[[The Apu Trilogy]]'' (1955–1959), Mitra often is considered one of the great Indian cinematographers.<ref name="geraldpeary">[http://www.geraldpeary.com/interviews/mno/mitra.html Gerald Peary ''Subrata Mitra'']</ref>

==Early life and education==
He was born in [[Calcutta]], Bengal (now [[Kolkata]], West Bengal) to Shanti and Sudhangshu Bhushan Mitra. He was a great-grandson, on his paternal grandmother's side, of the orientalist [[Brajendranath De]]y. He was a younger cousin of the singer [[Uma Bose]] and a nephew, even though he was older than him, of the historian [[Barun De]]y. He was educated at [[Ballygunge Government High School]], Kolkata.

==Work==
At the age of 21, Mitra, who never had operated a motion picture camera, began his career as a cinematographer with [[Satyajit Ray]], the legendary Indian film maker, for ''[[Pather Panchali (film)|Pather Panchali]]'' (1955).<ref name=Cardullo/> He continued to work with him for many of Ray's later films. He is known for pioneering the technique of [[Reflector (photography)#Bounce lighting|bounce lighting]] while filming ''The Apu Trilogy''.<ref name=Cardullo/><ref name=cinematographers/>

==Innovations==
Satyajit Ray thought that "Subrata Mitra’s camera work is better than [[Raoul Coutard]]’s".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.filmcomment.com/article/interview-satyajit-ray/|title=Interview: Satyajit Ray - Film Comment|language=en-US|access-date=2016-09-23}}</ref> Coutard was at the time much more acclaimed than Mitra having collaborated with Godard on many of his film projects. One of his most important technical innovations was his application of bounce lighting, pioneering the use of large scale diffusers to match studio lighting with location shooting. According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers:<ref name=cinematographers>{{cite web|title=Subrata Mitra|publisher=Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers|url=http://www.cinematographers.nl/GreatDoPh/mitra.htm|access-date=2009-05-22}}</ref>

{{quote|Mitra made his first technical innovation while shooting ''Aparajito''. The fear of monsoon rain had forced the art director, [[Bansi Chandragupta]], to abandon the original plan to build the inner courtyard of a typical Benares house in the open and the set was built inside a studio in Calcutta. Mitra recalls arguing in vain with both Chandragupta and Ray about the impossibilities of simulating shadowless diffused skylight. But this led him to innovate what became subsequently his most important tool - bounce lighting. Mitra placed a framed painter white cloth over the set resembling a patch of sky and arranged studio lights below to bounce off the fake sky.}}

His director Satyajit Ray also stated:<ref name=Cardullo>{{Cite journal|title=Revisiting Satyajit Ray: An Interview with a Cinema Master|first=Bert|last=Cardullo|journal=Bright Lights Film Journal|issue=50|date=November 2005|url=http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/50/rayiv.htm|archive-url=https://archive.is/20060329120137/http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/50/rayiv.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2006-03-29|access-date=2009-05-24}}</ref>

{{quote|You know, about seven or eight years after ''Pather Panchali'' was made, I read an article in ''[[American Cinematographer]]'' written by [[Sven Nykvist]] — at the time of [[Ingmar Bergman|Bergman]]'s ''[[Through a Glass Darkly (film)|Through a Glass Darkly]]'', I think — claiming the invention of bounced light. But we had been using it since 1954.}}Both Satyajit Ray and Subrata Mitra were greatly influenced by the photography of [[Henri Cartier-Bresson]], in particular his use of natural light.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/satyajitrayinner00robi_0|url-access=registration|title=Satyajit Ray: The Inner Eye|last=Robinson|first=Andrew|date=1989-01-01|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520069466|language=en}}</ref> The other great influence was [[Jean Renoir]] and it was in fact during the shooting of his film ''The River'', the pair met in its sets.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cinematographers.nl/GreatDoPh/mitra.htm|title=SUBRATA MITRA|website=www.cinematographers.nl|access-date=2016-09-23}}</ref>

Commenting on his own photography, Mitra said:

"Every cameraman has his own method of work innovated by his own conviction, taste, etc. One cameraman believes that he can please his audience and himself by glamourising the heroine only; another one believes that the main object of lighting and photography is to create various moods and feelings."{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

"I feel my most important technical innovation is the use of 'bounce lighting', induced by my love for naturalistic lighting."{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

"An actor can overact or underact. This equally applies to lighting and cameraman. He has to observe restraint in his work like the actor. I feel that in my own work I have a tendency to 'underact.'"{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

"My experience in ''Pather Panchali'' were rather unusual, because before this I had never touched a movie camera or even worked as an assistant to a cameraman...Almost every shot of ''Pather Panchali'' posed a problem for me, innumerable problems, many sleepless nights spent on ruminating over the prospects of the next day's shooting...''Pather Panchali'' had many excellent shots--both technically and artistically, but it had many bad shots too."{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}

==Post-retirement==
From 1997 until his death, Mitra was an emeritus professor of cinematography at the [[Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute]] (SRFTI) at Kolkata.

==Filmography==

*1955 : ''[[Pather Panchali]]'' - Directed: [[Satyajit Ray]]
*1956: ''[[Aparajito]]'' - Directed: Satyajit Ray
*1957: ''[[Parash Pathar]]'' - Directed: Satyajit Ray
*1958: ''[[Jalsaghar]]'' - Directed: Satyajit Ray
*1959: ''[[Apur Sansar]]'' - Directed: Satyajit Ray
*1960: ''[[Devi (1960 film)|Devi]]'' - Directed: Satyajit Ray
*1962: ''[[Kanchenjungha]]'' - Directed: Satyajit Ray
*1963: ''[[The Householder]]'' - Directed: [[James Ivory (director)|James Ivory]]
*1963: ''[[Mahanagar]]'' - Directed: Satyajit Ray
*1964: ''[[Charulata]]'' - Directed: Satyajit Ray
*1965: ''[[Shakespeare Wallah]]'' - Directed: James Ivory
*1966: ''[[Nayak (1966 film)|Nayak]]'' - Directed: Satyajit Ray
*1966: ''[[Teesri Kasam]]'' - Directed: [[Basu Bhattacharya]]
*1969: ''[[The Arch (film)|The Arch]]'' - Directed: [[Tang Shu Shuen]]
*1969: ''[[The Guru (1969 film)|The Guru]]'' - Directed: James Ivory
*1970: ''[[Bombay Talkie]]'' - Directed: James Ivory
*1974: ''Mahatma and the Mad Boy'' - Directed: [[Ismail Merchant]]<ref name="mahatmaandthemadboy">[http://www.merchantivory.com/film/mahatmaandthemadboy Mahatma and the Mad Boy]</ref>
*1985: ''[[New Delhi Times (film)|New Delhi Times]]'' - Directed: [[Ramesh Sharma]]

==Awards==
* 1986: [[National Film Award for Best Cinematography]] : ''[[New Delhi Times (film)|New Delhi Times]]''
* 1986: [[Padma Shri]]<ref name="padmashri">[http://www.sensonmedia.net/information/padmashri_awards_west_bengal.htm Senson Media: Padma Shri Awards from West Bengal]</ref>
* 1992: Eastman Kodak Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Cinematography

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://www.upperstall.com/people/mitra.html Biography on Subrata Mitra]
* [http://www.satyajitray.org/about_ray/SubrataMitra.htm Another biography on Subrata Mitra]
* {{IMDb name|0593970}}

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Art}}
{{National Film Award Best Cinematography}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitra, Subrata}}
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:2001 deaths]]
[[Category:Bengali people]]
[[Category:Bengali Hindus]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts]]
[[Category:Best Cinematography National Film Award winners]]
[[Category:Artists from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Satyajit Ray]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian photographers]]
[[Category:Cinematographers from West Bengal]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian screenwriters]]

Subrata Mitra - Revision history

imported>SdkbBot: /* Awards */General fixes, removed erroneous space