Two books, one by a celebrated photo journalist and the other one by an English teacher of a private university were unveiled at the International Kolkata Book Fair.
Invincible City, published by Penprints, author Rajib De is a celebrated photo journalist. His exhibition has fetched crowds both in India and abroad. Mr Dey was once a photojournalist of The Statesman.
The books, containing 75 black and white photographs, were clocked in the 1990s when Mr Dey was a photographer first with The Telegraph and then with The Statesman.
Calcutta now Kolkata has always been a hot topic for the photographers and cinematographers.
The cultural capital of the country is different from other cities in India. Calcutta (now Kolkata), was the capital of the British empire from 1757 till 1911 and only after the Battle of Plassey, the capital was shifted to Delhi. It has always been a melting pot of myriad cultural scenes, anecdotes, stories that are framed, lost, stolen and discarded into the abyss of time and timelessness.
The description of the photographs are penned by Sohini Sen.
Mr Dey has tried to capture the various moods of the city life across Maidan, the lanes and by-lanes of Kolkata, vast areas surrounding Shahid Minar all tell interesting stories. The city offers various interesting vocations and Mr Dey has tried to portray their stories through his lens.
The street urchins, rickshaw pullers play an important role in the city’s life. The city presents a serene world full of silence and Mr Dey has captured that also.
Mr Dey’s special interests are bridges and trams of Kolkata. Horse-driven trams in the city were soon replaced by electric trams in the early years of 20th century. His exhibitions at the National Library and India habitat Centre, New Delhi were crowd pullers.
Sreetanwi Chakraborty’s novel Rhododendron has sold more than 100 copies. It deals with the changing human relationships and their different layers.
A psychological twist at the end of the novel gives the real punch of the book. Mrs Chakraborty teaches English at a private university and her passion is writing and reading books.