“A photograph seeking to become immortal has to be based on real life and capture the ‘just’ expression of life.” Such was the opinion of reputable landscape photographer Soumitra Dutta while inaugurating a photography exhibition of Expression Photography Club along with Indian Art College lecturer Sruty Ghosh.
The exhibition is being held between 2pm and 8pm at the Academy of Fine Arts (New South Gallery), Nandan, till May 10.
On display are unique photographs of flora and fauna besides other visuals captured by a motley mix of seasoned and new artists.
On the occasion, Ghosh said: “Each and every photo here compels one to take a closer look and appear to suggest that life prevails in all of them.”
Expressing happiness at being able to showcase so much talent on a single platform, club secretary Joydeb Chakraborty wished to stay hopeful that future editions of the exhibitions would surely see more and more success.
A visitor checks out the exhibits. Expression Photography Club
Mentor-cum-participant Goutam Bose spoke exclusively to My Kolkata, explaining how the artists had portrayed many facets that lay ‘imprisoned’ in the photographs.
He spoke about the finer aspects of some of the exhibits in this edition. His personal favourite was one he had clicked somewhere in east Sikkim. He had been out for a walk in a temperature of 6 degrees Celsius, when suddenly sunlight burst forth from behind the clouds to illuminate two spots on the ground that created an illusion of a pair of eyes.
The footfall at the exhibition grew over the weekend. Expression Photography Club
Bose recounted: “Just after the capture, the eyes disappeared. And I realised how it was a once-in-a-lifetime click that every photographer craves for.”
Commenting on the response to this edition of the exhibition, Bose said they had been simply overwhelmed by the initial response. The week that followed the inauguration on May 4 saw dipping footfall but as the weekend drew close, more and more visitors stepped in to check out the multifarious shades of life and longing captured in the photographs.
“Our club used to put up the exhibition every two years. But obviously, the prevailing pandemic has played spoilsport of sorts. Now, we plan to organise our next exhibition on November 23 or December 23 this year,” Bose added.
Bose made special mention of photographer Pallavi Chatterjee’s photo essay, which has “beautifully captured the lives and days of a particular Cambodian community of people who live on a lake. The eight pictures seek to showcase 24 hours of their life spent afloat in boats and on the waters.”
Pointing out at Joydeb Chakraborty’s collection as well as that of Kalpana Roy and Debanjan Ghosh, Bose opined that each of the collections showcased in the exhibition was expressive and striking in their own right and had been painstakingly obtained by the various artists.
