Kolkata: Photographer Hirak Sen, who had chronicled Satyajit Ray’s working life through the master filmmaker’s final decade, died on Wednesday. He was 71. Sen had been suffering from dementia and heart ailments.Sen’s association with Ray began between 1974 and 1975, when he first visited the family as a 19-year-old friend of Sandip Ray.Soon, he became a familiar presence on the sets and at the Ray home on Bishop Lefroy Road. Drawn to filmmaking, he began taking photographs alongside Ray’s celebrated on-set photographer Nemai Ghosh. The passion soon grew into a lifelong commitment. Sen followed Ray’s unit for years, observing the nuances of filmmaking before being accepted as an official still photographer.From 1980 until Ray’s death in 1992, he remained a constant companion, documenting Ray directing actors, writing, composing music, planning shots and sitting in quiet concentration between the takes. Among Sen’s most historic images was the photograph of Ray receiving his honorary Oscar from his hospital bed on March 16, 1992. The recorded version of Ray’s acceptance speech was broadcast 14 days later during the 64th Academy Awards ceremony. “His photograph of Baba (Satyajit Ray) laughing is endearing to me,” Sandip added. Over the years, Sen became part of the extended Ray circle, sharing an easy camaraderie with Ghosh and earning the affection of the unit.“Others, too, loved having him at the ‘adda’ sessions,” Sandip said. “In the final years, he was afflicted with dementia,” Sandip added. Priya Cinema owner Arijit Dutta, who organised a 2007 exhibition of Sen’s rare Ray photos, admired his use of natural light and frames.
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