“My father was a tailor in Purulia and our economic condition was bad. My parents sent me to live with my maternal grandparents in the hope that I would study. But I was not interested and I could not take the beatings any longer,” he tells you. It was then that Vicky decided to take matters into his own hands. He stole some money from home and came to Delhi in the hope of finding a dream and fulfilling it.
Vicky’s first job was that of a rag-picker at New Delhi Railway Station. After that, he worked in a dhaba near Ajmeri Gate as a dishwasher for a few months. It was probably destiny that someone from Salaam Baalak Trust saw him there and he was taken in by them. He found a home with 50 others like him in a shelter called Apna Ghar in Multani Dhanda, Pahadganj. He attended Government Boys Middle School in Chuna Mandi, Pahad Ganj from Class VI-VIII and then shifted to Nutan Marathi School.
“I was never interested in studying but I knew that to make something of myself, I needed to study as much as I could,” Vicky says. He somehow managed to complete his Class X through open schooling and then started learning photography.
His first big exposure to photography was when world-renowned photographer Dixie Benjamin came to Delhi to document the Trust. “I worked under Benjamin for a few months, learning as much as I could. But there was an obvious communication gap between us because I didn’t know English, let alone understand the Brit accent. So the Trust found me another brilliant mentor, Anay Mann, a portrait specialist who has worked with Forbes and Time. Most of what I have learnt is by assisting him and I still work with him,” says Vicky.
In the initial days, photography was not just a work opportunity for Vicky (he was being paid Rs3,000 and given a bike and travel allowances by Mann) but he knew that this could also become a way for him to travel. Training under Mann, Vicky found his passion for documentary photography. At age 20, without any formal training in photography, Vicky’s first exhibition Street Dreams was held at the India Habitat Centre, Delhi. He went on to put up many more exhibitions in India and abroad. In 2013, his first photo book, Home Street Home, was published.
“Documentary photography is something that takes years to do. The pictures in my book have been taken over a long period, from 2005-2012. In a way, the kids in the pictures, all of them under 18, and their journeys are a reflection of my life. My mother inaugurating the book was the proudest moment of my life,” he says. He also remembers the two occasions when he had lunch with Prince Edward, once at Buckingham Palace and another time at the Prince’s other home.
The budding photographer who has made Delhi his home has worked on prestigious projects abroad. He won a competition which made him spend six months in New York documenting the reconstruction of the World Trade Centre. There, he also took a photography course to learn the theoretical aspects, in case he ever wanted to teach photography.
“In 2013, I was one of the contestants on National Geographic’s Mission Cover Shoot where I made it to the top four. Since Purulia is a small place with simple people, they never actually understood what I do. But seeing me on TV made everyone back home proud of me,” he reminisces.
When he left his home, his large family lived in a one-room home. Now, Vicky has bought his parents a three-bedroom flat, an unimaginable feat for his folks.
Vicky’s career has shaped up not merely as a photographer but also as an inspirational lecturer at various colleges and corporate houses. His accomplishments at work got him the prestigious MIT Media lab fellowship in Boston, USA. Most recently, he was featured in Forbes Asia’s ‘30 under 30’ list which highlights younger achievers, including the likes of Virat Kohli and others.
Asked if he is okay with the idea of his story being documented through a movie, Vicky reveals that he was, in fact, approached by a director a few months back who wanted to make a movie on him. But the director was told to wait for at least five more years.
Vicky does not believe in confining himself. Apart from clicking pictures and giving talks, he has started a photo library with his colleague Chandan Gomes. Many big photographers have donated photo books so that those who can’t afford to buy them can still see them. The library has now found a permanent home at Aurobindo Centre.