Kolkata day 1
Hello!
On October 22, Calvin and I met up with Shubhodeep, who came straight from a night shift at work. We got on the metro and started the day with a long visit to Kumartuli. This area is home to artisans working in many small workshops, creating idols for Hindu festivals. They use straw and clay from the Hooghly river, the local name for the Ganges. We found many subjects there and went into some workshops to see work in progress. After the clay dries, they paint the idols beautifully. They come in many sizes, and they can also make other figures; for example, I saw a Statue of Liberty and a Spider-Man!
After a while, Shubhodeep's photography mentor, Tanmoy Chatterjee, joined us. A very calm and nice man who has dedicated his life to photographing all parts of India. He is especially a master of low light photography. We were getting hungry, and we went south to a Chinese restaurant for lunch. After this, Shub had to go back for another night shift (no sleep!), and Calvin and I went back to the hotel. We had a long chat until it was time for dinner.
Take care!
Niklas
