by Niklas Lindskog
Hello everybody!
On March 14th me and Keef were a little tired and took the first half of the day off.The next day was DOTSO day and we wanted to save our energy for that.
But we couldn't waste the entire day, so at 1 pm we took off. We took the bus to Esplanade, the subway to Mahatma Gandhi Rd and walked into the mayhem of the mighty Burrabazar (sometimes called Bara Bazar).
We had some good shooting, but the energy wasn't quite there. We had planned a dinner with some of the other DOTSO photographers at 6 pm and we got to Nizam's restaurant 20 minutes ahead of time. Myriam Aadli and Patricia Kerkhofs were already there and we had good chat before more people started to arrive. Lil Steinberg, Anat Shushan, Victor Shohet, Shimi Cohen, Miki Schauder (with the little whisky shots), Amit Alony, Limor Zadok and Gershon Gilat. So 12 people all in all. So very nice to meet all of you. It was a long taable and I was at one end of it, so I got to know some people better than others, but it was still a nice experience!
Me and Keef took a shortcut to the bus on Lenin Sarani Rd through, what I call, the laundry alley. And there I got what I feel is the best shot of this day! So shortcuts can be good!
March 15th was DOTSO day. DOTSO stands for Day On The Streets Of and in this case Kolkata should be added at the end of it.
I had asked for the 6 am to 12 noon shift anbd went off at about 5:30 am. I had a cold shower feeling when I realized I had forgotten to aske the building janitor to unlock the gate early, but fortunately someone had unlocked it. I found a taxi quickly and went off to Maidan metro station. Arriving I saw there were new instructions and went into the park to meet the others in my group. I said hi to Amit and Limor, who then went off to start shooting. Indian photographers were still arriving and I stayed so I could say hi and shake hands with all of them. Talked a few words more with Santanu Dey and got a tip where to shoot from him.
I had a good 6 hour shoot in Maidan, at the Babughat bus stand, along the Strand Rd with some detours. At the MIllennium Park, I was feeling my hip a little and got on a bus to Howrah Bridge and the flower market and the adjoining ghats. It was my third visit there, but I found some places a little north of the bridge, that I hadn't explored before. Burrabazar is quite close and was the last area on my assigned route. I spent quite a lot of time there and got some good shots. It was my third visit and I realized I was recognizing some faces even though the crowd there is huge! Suddenly, while in the orange part of the market a man said "hey there, I want to talk to you". We chatted a bit and then it happened! Suddenly about 100 people started cheering loudly. I looked around to see what all the fuss was about. They were all standing up and looking at me and I realized they were giving me a standing ovation! I waved to the crowd and got two more cheers! The man I chatted with told me they flet honoured by me coming there several times to take pictures of them. A bit shaken and emotional, I mumbled that it was all my honour and pleasure.
After resting a couple of hours in the flat, I went for an afternoon photo walk in the alleys near our place, southwest of the Moulali Crossing. Had some good shooting there.
All the photos here are from the 14th. The DOTSO day photos are reserved for that project for a while.
Take care people!
Niklas
