A pre Wedding Walk in Kolkata

I recently had one of those jobs you dream about. “Do you fancy coming to India to photograph our wedding ?” Georgie and Soumitra had already booked me for their wedding in England later in the year and this was the question they posed when we met. Needless to say we agreed a deal. So it was I found myself in mid February boarding a flight to Kolkata.

If you have not travelled to India before nothing can prepare you for the sensory overload you experience when you step out of the airport. The colour, which is integral to Hinduism, the heat, the noise, the smells, the sheer pace and volume of living going on makes the uk seem rather drab and lifeless.

Needless to say it is a photographer’s dream location. Steve McCurry the famous National Geographic photographer said there is nowhere better to photograph if you want to experience life and he also specifically mentioned Kolkata as the place in India to go.

I was struck by the total absence of any western tourism. In the 4 or 5 hours I wandered the streets I was the only non Indian and drew some amused looks as the only tall white man with a big camera in town. Sadly it is a place where opulent wealth and extreme poverty are literally living side by side. Do I want to return most definitely. Below is a selection of shots I took as I wandered and I am ashamed to say do not remotely do the place justice.