330-Year-Old North Kolkata Heritage House Hosts Stunning Photography Exhibition This Pujo!

The region encompassing the northern part of Kolkata offers endless opportunities for photographers. The winding bylanes and roads located in this ancient section of the city are seemingly suspended in time, yearning to be shot with a camera. This beauty that transcends time is what the Window Photography School has tried to display in their exhibition, From the Streets to Souls of Heritage: The Essence of Pathuriaghata & Its Neighbourhood.

(Photo Credit: my kolkata telegraphindia) 330-Year-Old North Kolkata Heritage House

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The sudden enlargement of the exhibition was held on Mahalaya and can be viewed till Navami. It includes pictures documented by the school’s students and their instructors, curated within Hara-Kutir, a building that is over three hundred and thirty years old and located in Jorabagan. The exhibition can be accessed by everyone between the hours of 10 am and 10 pm, up to and including the 12th of October.

The atmosphere of Hara-Kutir is apt as it mingles aloof with the old structures of the locality yet stands tall with its imposing design. The walls of the house features a total of 49 big black and white photographs which showcase the aesthetically appealing Pathuriaghata. These photographs are further classified into six categories; the Ganga, portraits, buildings, modes of transport, images of deities and lanes and streets. All these depict North Kolkata in its various guises.

The main guides of the institute, Rajib De and Deb Lahiri, have been at the forefront in initiating this event. The response has been so gratifying and we’ve already received bookings for some photographs on the first day!" said Lahiri. The idea for this event came while working on my coffee table book, Kolkata My Endless City (co-authored with Arup Ghosh). We decided to create an exhibition that could showcase the work our students are putting in, while also giving a platform to the heritage charm of this locality,” added De.

The exhibition showcases work from 18 members and the instructors of the Window Photography School. The pictures, although having a distinct look, are homogenous in visual similarity. The artists add their personality in the portrayal of the classic Kolkata sights such as the yellow taxis, trolleys, river banks, idol artisans of Kumartuli and the rajbaris.

(Photo Credit: my kolkata telegraphindia) A scene from the Photography Exhibition 

What impressed me most about the exhibition was the unifying force of photography as it cuts across various professions. Regardless of whether you are a banker, a consultant, or a screenwriter, all these professions have one thing in common; the fondness for capturing occasions. Goutam Podder, a former manager at Bank of Baroda, demonstrated this through his image of Lohia Matri Seva Sadan. "I was always interested in photography, but as life happened and I took up a job, I had to give it up. Ever since my retirement, I have taken it up again," he said.

In the same vein, Riten Chatterjee, who was employed as an HR manager in a large corporate setting, had a tale to narrate. "I have been dabbling in street photography for 10 years alongside my job. An exhibition like this is a great medium to push my skills," he said.

"We didn’t just want to display beautiful pictures, but carefully craft a sequence that presented this neighbourhood’s streets accurately. We want people to experience Pathuriaghata fully," said curator and mentor Sankar Ghose.