Where Created Creates Creator

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

India | Sunday, October 17, 2010 | 5 photos

Kumortuli (potters quarter) a neighborhood within Kolkata, India. Its a place where the Idols of Hindu Gods and Goddess are being made for the festival, Durga Puja, especially popular among the Bengali Community. From here the idols are delivered all over the City as well as other parts of the Country and World. For decades this place has been struggling in the absence of a permanent structure for settlement, until a late realization from the Local Government.
The idols mainly portrays the Hindu Goddess "Durga", defeating the King of Demons the "Mahisasur".

This set of images were taken in an afternoon in Kumartuli, few weeks before the festival began. Most of the idols were un-finished. However, the pre-puja period is a paradise for the photographers. As anticipation for the Pujas had already begun and the local dailies and weeklies were all gearing up for the coverage.
"A point of view" is a classic example of how a photographer tries to find nooks and creeks to get the perfect picture.
"Artisan and tools" shows ‘Chokkhu-Daan’, where the artist draws or symbolically gives life to the eyes of the Goddess. Here, the artist has just begun to do that.
"In his world" depicts a typical indoor setting in which people of Kumartuli work.
"Knock-out punch" which punningly signifies the killing blow from the Goddess.
"Divine lane" the busy alleys through which the Idols make their way out of here.

I'm Rajdeep from Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Though my academic background is in Computers and after working for 2yrs, I realized what I actually loved. I used to shoot with my Dad's SLR since I was in my 3rd standard. I'm still learning and someday I hope to become not only a photographer but a person whom people can trust to see the World through my eyes. Perhaps its my destiny.