What and Where to Click, a Photo Tour to Kolkata

“Photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place”- Elliot Erwitt 

Yes! Photographs tell a lot. The harder you try to reach to its inner core, the more you will be getting soaked up by its intricacies. And photo-walks just give you the buffet of platters of all genres of photography.

The Photo-Walk

Whenever mundane blues engulf us, we take resort of Photo-tours in and Kharagpur. The swirling vortex of thoughts, the omnipresent stress-strain curves, get soothed by the portraits of human, get mingled up by our very own myriad of creativity. Through the viewfinder, we rediscover our world. From fallen leaves to grass dews, from a perched sunlit day to monsoon drizzle, from a dusty football field to a crowded street, we try to canvas the world through our perspectives.  And hence to find those special moments, we the ClickKGPian again hit the road; this time Kolkata, the “Tilottoma” was waiting for us to be captured by our curiosity.  

The road has always been the prime source of possibilities. As emotions, memories, inspirations all can sync up with any journey, road gives the perfect platform for the theatrics. Slashing through the darkness of night, thumping some adrenaline rushes within our bodies, we started our journey from Kharagpur. We boarded the local train and reached Howrah around 6 am. At this specific time of the day, Ganga looks like a black and white portrait of stillness. The haggling of hawkers by its side, the busy strides of pedestrians on the Rabindra Setu (Howrah Bridge), peeking of sun through the cottony cloud, Calcutta welcomed us with its own charm.

First, we went to the Mullick Ghat flower market. Mallick Ghat is considered as Asia’s biggest flower mandi (market) & was built by Ram Mohun Mallick in 1855, making it 161 years old today! It is situated under the south-east end of the Howrah Bridge. Within the bustling flower market, we dazzled up by the riots of colors.

Then from there, we went to Esplanade by Governor Road. From Esplanade, we boarded the Calcutta’s iconic Tram service to reach Khidderpore wherefrom we went to Princep Ghat. 

In the midst of hectic city life, this is the only service which is still chugging along its path for over a century. Bengalis always value emotions, maybe that’s why in an ever-changing world, Calcutta still nurture it, relishes its golden memories of it on some rusted tracks.   

Prinsep Ghat, a perfect amalgamation of heritage and weekend sojourn of people around Calcutta is situated at the banks of Hoogly river. This majestic structure was built in the memory of James Prinsep who was an extraordinary brilliant Anglo-Indian researcher and scholar. With the concordant hues and starving tummies we got busy in exploring its grandeur. 

Learning Photography in Photo-Walks

The monk starts his day as the day dawns. The perfect innuendo of harmony and he omnipresence of Nature. Photographer's View: An example of shallow depth of field and the perfect usage of lighting. Light plays a major role in a photograph while using a shallow depth of field emphasizes the subject more to the viewer's eyes. (Large apertures, which correlate to small f-stop numbers, produce a very shallow depth of field. On the other hand, small apertures, or large f-stop numbers, produce images with a large depth of field.)

The first thing that catch an eye of a photographer or even any other person is the Howrah Bridge. Another famous representation of Kolkata is the "ambassador", the sign of royalty and pride. Kolkata is the city of joy and so the morning dawns to the same tune of joy. Photographer's View: Symmetry plays a vital role in framing of the picture. A simple daily view can be made attractive by application of symmetry.

The City of Joy, Kolkata, is really a photographers' paradise, owing to the amount of activity on its streets. The Sun rises, so does this man, carrying the load of the trip and the load of life, inspiring others with his energy. Photographer's View: Composition is yet again a major factor in establishing the best framing of the photograph. The various elements present in and around the subject defines the various elements to be present in the frame. Here the symmetrical placement of the boxes on the right of the frame is sure to catch one's eyes added by the motion on the left defines the street photography perfectly. Symmetry in Asymmetry.

The evolution of Ramshackle Tram. Photographer's View: Black and white framing gives you a vintage representation of the present composition. It is an art form. A simple photo in black and white representation can add the extra dramatic effect needed. In this case a little bit of contrast would have been cherry on the cake. 

Amidst the roads of the lively city Kolkata, this picture gives a glimpse into a policeman's job. Managing the early morning activity of various people alongside the rising traffic is a challenge but nevertheless, the feeling doesn't ever tire him. Photographer's View: Here's the subject is the helmet placed on the corner of the barricade with the owner of the subject in the background. A slight gap from the midpoint makes the picture catchy following the one-third rule of framing. The owner (let say secondary subject is blurred) however in the other half of the frame and in the "shallow depth of field" emphasizes the importance of the primary subject (in sharp focus).

The attire of this looked quite peculiar owing to the scorching heat of Kolkata . When we were continuously dripping sweat this man was walking without any problem. Photographer's view: Colour is a very powerful tool, and it's right amount of usage dominates the photo oftentimes used as a weapon to emphasize other elements like tonal contrast, texture, shape, form and lighting.