A Curated Collection of Photographs from Calcutta and beyond.
One post to sum up all my travel from 2011 to 2013, described in few handful words.
Still as fresh as rain…
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ10 (Point & Shoot)
City of Joy, Calcutta
2011-2012
I spent five years of my law school (2008-13) in Kolkata. This is the city where my initial flirting and dates with photography begins with a modest point and shoot camera. While I always envied my friends who could afford a DSLR, I never thought this was a roadblock, as they say, it’s not the equipment but the person behind the camera who creates a beautiful photograph.
In Kolkata, I mostly preferred to visit unconventional offbeat locations, where you can smell the real essence of this city, be it, Calcutta’s bustling flower market, serene botanical garden or artistic potters’ quarter. You would hardly find any iconic location in my photographs as I find them cliché.
My style of photography between 2009 to 2013 was simply focused on aesthetics and composition, without any touch up or technical jazz.
This is my law school, where I got the huge motivation and support from friends and seniors to pursue photography. Often, I borrowed cameras from them and looked forward to their feedback to improve my game. Later, I also covered most of the cultural and educational events as the University’s official photographer.
Beyond Calcutta, yet in Bengal
2011-2012
Calcutta, being close to my heart for its very distinct charm and the feel of an old but yet modern city, always allured me. However, there is much more that this beautiful state has to offer, if you can afford small trips with your limited pocket money as a student. Nonetheless, I could still make few weekend trips to some of the interesting locations near to Calcutta, starting with peaceful Shantiniketan to the beaches of Sankarpur, mountains of Darjeeling and tiger trails of Sunderbans.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ40
Before we say Good Bye
2012-2013
My next camera was Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ40, a point and shoot camera with 24X zoom. I bought it on Olx for nine grands, at the fag end of my law school. However, I still managed to click some memorable photographs of Kolkata before I left for Delhi.
Banabitan is the second largest open space in Kolkata metropolitan area built around an expansive lake which serves as a haven for water birds like lesser whistling duck, common moorhen, egrets, cormorants and many other species.
Rabindra Sarovar lake and its surrounding areas are one of the most popular recreational areas in Kolkata with a very beautiful artificial lake inside and few trees more than 100 years old. You may also find many people rowing in this large lake and spot birds like kingfisher, brown-breasted flycatcher, pin-tailed snipe, blue-throated blue catcher, etc.
Needless to say, these were two of my most favorite haunts in Kolkata to shoot.
Creative Genes 