A three-day UK-themed photography exhibition, titled ‘Unplugged: Best of the UK’ was inaugurated on March 10, 2023, at the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Kolkata. It is being organised in collaboration with the UK government, Indo- British Scholars Association (IBSA) and Bengal Heritage Foundation (BHF). Above, the exhibition being inaugurated by Peter Cook, acting British Deputy High commissioner to Kolkata, and Subrata Paul, president, IBSA
Photos: Ashim Paul
After taking a tour of the exhibition, Cook said, ‘Photography is a visual medium that rises above language. You can see with your own eyes what the story you are getting is. It’s a wonderful glimpse into life in the UK. There are many that people from Bengal will recognise, like the red London bus and Big Ben. There are some photos of my hometown Edinburgh, which I am particularly attracted to, like the Edinburgh Castle or the street scenes.’
The exhibition has been curated by (L-R) Pallavi Majumder and Surasree Seal. Speaking to My Kolkata, Majumder said, ‘When we got the photographs, we decided to group them together into categories and create storylines like natural photos, people and activities, monumental landscapes, portraits, flowers etc.’ Seal added, ‘We got around seven days to curate the entire exhibition.’
Priya Virmani, whose photographs are exhibited at the gallery, commented, ‘My photos were taken quite a few years ago at Hyde Park and Kensington Palace gardens. I love nature and nature photography. These were taken on my phone while I was on my walks and runs. I have been dabbling with photography ever since I was a little girl.’ Virmani is a political and economic analyst and an author based in London
Srinjoy Sen, who runs a travel agency, and heads the youth council of IBSA, said, ‘Rowing is my sport, so one photo here is of the Henley Royal Regatta. Another is of Newcastle, the city of bridges, where I studied. There’s one long exposure shot of the London Eye in the evening too. I have studied in the UK and it has been a life-changing experience for me,’ he said
Nineteen photographers have participated in the exhibition – Amit Sengupta, Bhavna Khemka, Aranya Deb, Priya Virmani, Diwakar Thakore, Jai Patel, Ipshita Ghose, Harsha Mehta, Joydeep Pal, Kanishka Kumar, Saptarshi Kar, Sourav Niyogi, Srinjoy Sen, Sam Mitra, Nandini Ray, Subham Pal, Sabyasachi Dutta, Modhura Roy and Micheal Broad — with a total of 85 photographs
