Veteran photo journalist passes away following brief illness
Well known senior photo journalist of Manipur, Phanjoubam Santosh passed away on Friday. He died following a brief illness at his Wangkhei Meihoubam Lampak in Imphal East district at around 5 pm on Friday. He was 57 and survived by his mother, wife and two children. Santosh was in fact known among the entire media fraternity across the Northeast. Santosh started clicking photo in 1974 and became a freelance photojournalist in 1980 and later he became first Reuters photographer from Manipur.
Santosh who captured the crucial and momentous events of Manipur’s history in the last more than 30 years through his lens, had even displayed through his solo photo exhibitions in the state from February 2014 onwards. For his focused and determined works, he was given lifetime achievement award in photojournalism in 2005. He was passionate about his work, he was a keen traveller, and he was a great mentor to young photographers as well. Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh also condoled the sudden demise of photo journalist Santosh.
“My deepest condolences on the sad and untimely demise of my dear friend Santosh, the great photographer,” says Biren in a facebook post. “We have lost a good human being,” N Biren added. He also shared the grief and pain of the bereaved family as they go through difficult times. Observing a two minute silence to respect the departed soul, the journalists’ community in the State condoled the untimely demise of Santosh by paying floral tribute to the departed soul at the Manipur Press Club on Friday evening.
Information and public relations minister Th Biswajit also participated in the floral tribute function. In a condolence message, All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union’s publicity secretary Y Okendrajit Luwang said, “The untimely demise of Santosh is a great loss to the journalist fraternity.” Editors’ Guild Manipur also sent out a condolence message. “We have lost a great champion for photo journalism, a wonderful person, and a good friend,” says The Khelen Thokchom Trust in Imphal in their condolence message. “Rest in peace brother. We will miss you,” the message added.
