“Of course it’s all luck,” Henri Cartier-Bresson, the Frenchman considered the father of modern photojournalism, once quipped about his profession, which he raised to the level of art.
Of course we are not talking at the level of high priests here. We are talking about the mundane, the humdrum and the everyday affairs that we often miss as we go about work every day with clockwork precision. And zooming in on those ordinary aspects of life.
Yes, it’s luck, as the guru said, and a bit extra that the lens, when properly focused, sends out. So take a bow, Swaroop Singha Roy, whose photographs Howzzit has earlier run, as his photography page MegapicXel turned one year today. Here we carry a selection of his best pics over the last year, the theme being Kolkata, The City of Joy, and its neighbourhood.
Budding bloom: Spring is in the air, as the blooming flower shows off.
Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head: This was taken during the monsoons last year, showing the majesty of the city, and its ever-busy residents.
Labour of life: Taken near the metropolis, a shot of ‘life’ starting young.
When solitary is an army: One for sorrow… or so goes the saying among children. But sometimes you need that solitude to gather your wits before the day’s toil for food begins.
Dawn of dusk: Sunset at Massanjore dam on the Mayurakshi River.
Honey, I got it again! A dash of black on white on colour.
Pray, where’s my prey? The look of a predator.
Colour contrast: Zooming in on the bloom as the buds shoot out.
Another day end: A view of the Vidyasagar Setu from Princep Ghat.
A face in the crowd: Perched on shoulders, she looks out for the new, amid the setting of the old. Welcome, life.
