I sell colors, a photo from West Bengal, East

Photographer's Note

This is a shot from Mullick ghaat, just beside the Howrah bridge. Mullick ghaat is the largest retail wholesale market for flowers in Kolkata. Flowers are mainly in use for religious purpose, and also for decorations. The crop mainly grows in neighboring districts of Midnapore, 24 parganas, Howrah and Hooghly, while some flowers also come from Burdwan. This market is a huge one, and one can find traditional as well as exotic flowers here.

This man is a selling gainda (ganda in Bengali), the most common flower around India, found all the year round, and whose yield in Bengal is maximum in January-February. The flowers are strung as open-ended garlands which are bought by retailers and transformed into garlands of different types and shapes.

Jan-Feb also happens to the month of Saraswati puja, the worship of Hindu goddess of learning, Saraswati, and these flowers are almost synonymous with her worship in Bengal. This year the puja is on next Sunday. I take this opportunity to post this pic.

PS: these colors are for Claude, who had shown how gorgeous they can be in India.

avis2avis, jstewart, ChrisJ, hugolef, rizainuddin, elihesamian, AnimeshRay, thawaitrajkumar has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

avis2avis (4264) 2005-02-09 0:54

Lovely shot Arnab. Dare I say at par with Claude's last post. I love it. Well done!

puister (570) 2005-02-09 1:04

Hi Arnab,

What a nice portrait this is. And a strong POV too. Good job.

scalerman (26900) 2005-02-09 1:53

super compo Arnab - the DOF here works the whole way through. a photo-class worthy addition, no doubt.

ash_parikh (2266) 2005-02-09 1:55

Nice shot, vibrant colours. The angle and composition is very good here.

lestans (17258) 2005-02-09 2:37

Bellissimo! Great colors! I think that western people love India also for its so many colors.
This pic rememeb me the Clodreno's one about a spiceseller: a man, and big colors around.
Thank you!!

sohrab (7439) 2005-02-09 2:45

actually even before i read your note, i thought it was a very claudy shot :)
very well composed and gorgeous colours, i think because of less light.. these are the kind of colours i like. RICH!!!!!

i'd like one correction in your note though, and it's for a very small reason. people who are not familiar with the hindi name of marigold will pronounce the flower as ganda ( dirty) , if you can change it to gainda or something like that maybe they'll get close to the proper pronounciatiojn. i don't know how it is pronounced in bengali though, although i'm half bengali :)

take care

jstewart (1150) 2005-02-09 2:51

Excellent. And full marks for the informative note.

naret (826) 2005-02-09 2:58

Hi Arnab,
Nice work. The color is beatiful. However, in my opinion , this picture may include too much the bright yellow part, it draw my attention from the man.
Thank you for sharing.
Naret

bantonbuju (51815) 2005-02-09 3:50

morning arnab, its very similiar to claude's yesterdays post; very well seen and excellent framing, the man is very importat here and you cought the right moment; very pleasent pic

ChrisJ (149442) 2005-02-09 3:52

Namaste Arnab

Excellent sharpness color & composition, with the lighting & positioning of the mans head just about perfect! The slight 'off-centre' position of the man, adds strength to the compsition. Good shot!

clodreno (0) 2005-02-09 4:14

Nice Arnab, I like the colros, a nice place but but not so easy to shoot aas it might seems.. You managed very well here..
Like this image.

sandip (3492) 2005-02-09 4:16

It was just reminding Claude's yesterday's post.But You shot it in your own style.Nice to see this Ghat Series.

AmiBe (6042) 2005-02-09 5:23

Yeah, superb picture the colors are very nice ! The composition is really good. I like that the man is not looking at you.

maciekda (19895) 2005-02-09 5:45

this is very nice, i love all those colors, the composition is very good too, I only wish his expression was more accurate to the scene, now he is talking to someone outside the frame... anyway, it is a nice picture

hugolef (4913) 2005-02-09 6:47

Hello Arnab,
nice shot of colors. After spices, flowers. India had so many (simple) treasures. Great capture.
Thanks for sharing
Regards, Hugues

gaby (19819) 2005-02-09 8:03

Splendid
Thanks
Gaby

oochappan (4984) 2005-02-09 9:41

The first thing I did was watching this photo without border and I can tell it stands as an excellent shot, good depht by gradually shadow, even on the face it is nicely balanced and of course the colors are marvalous. One tip for the note: my Tamil friend sitting next to me said that Saraswati Puja comes even before Diwalli, so along his calendar it is in Oct-Nov. :), he supposes that it must be another festival ?

sn00zie (2384) 2005-02-10 9:31

reminds me a bit of Claude's capture.. the one with the spices..

i like this composition of yours arnab and i love the fact the guy sitting there is unaware of your presence :)

elihesamian (26149) 2005-02-11 14:29

And I'm a customer for your colors,I buy those,how much?!:))
I can buy it with a green smile,but If I could,i give it 20 score!
very well captured,nice daily life shot,well composed and nicely managed the quality of the colors,well done,I enjoy it,Arnab,great work.
Yours
M

Kicka (0) 2005-02-17 15:35

A good photograph Arnab. Nice clean composition and great colours. In fact at first sight in the thumbnails I was thinking some of Claudes work, just according to you note ; )

keribar (43841) 2005-02-25 1:55

Hello Arnab,

I am starting to believe that we enjoy the same kind of images. This one, is exactly the kind that I enjoy deeply. What I like best are the smooth light, the look, and the simplicity. The wall in the back also adds a lot. Very good shot Arnab !

AnimeshRay (9089) 2005-02-25 18:10

Arnab,
This is a great photo! I like the justaposition of color, the tone of the wall, and the man's posture and his eyes in a provocative combination.
Great job!

jagnoor (0) 2005-03-03 8:32

nice :) , good contrast with saffron and yellow flowers.

pinakie_slg (861) 2006-11-14 20:47

aj hothath apnar ei chbita ese porlam, valo hoyeche. amaro ekta ache, dekhechin ki.
amader du joner chobitei fulgulte clarity r avab na??