THE TURMOIL

"There is a sun, a light that for want of another word I can only call yellow, pale Sulphur yellow, pale golden citron. How lovely yellow is!" Well, they say that the best way to overcome your fear is to FACE IT and that is exactly what I did 3 years back when I set out to document one of the most challenging festivals along the west coast of India, Maharashtra. Shot in Pattan Kodoli, Kolhapur, during the Hindu Festival – “Vitthal Birdev Yatra”, popularly known as the “Yellow Festival”, this photograph is the perfect depiction of how natural light bathed in the “sea of turmeric” accentuates the drama of an entire scene. Though this is a still image, the placement of a solitary photographer on a pole and the devotees carrying their holy cloaks passing through the layers of turmeric creates magical dynamism in a stationary image. Baked in the early morning sun-rays, this photograph pretty much looks like a "screengrab" from a historic war movie; the portrayal of action, pace, momentum, and the ability of “stand tall in the crowd” in the middle of religious celebrations makes it a delectable collectible. While the scene looks captivating to the core, the experience of shooting such a festival is nothing less than excruciating – especially for the ones who suffer from chronic skin allergy and breathlessness. Photographers around the world are often used to shooting “Holi” that is essentially a celebration with colors; but the “Yellow festival” poses a challenge of a different level. As you are covered with a thick layer of turmeric within the first 5-6 minutes of entering into the arena, one thing is for sure – reviewing the photographs would not be a possibility since your vision is almost NIL. In the quest of protecting your camera gear, we often tend to cover it with plastic which covers the viewfinder and the entire screen – which means your experience and deep understanding of documentary photography is tested to the core once you head out to shoot in the remotest parts of the country. Life is even more difficult for the ones who wear glasses – the impermeable layer of powder blocks your vision, and you struggle to walk in a straight path, let alone creating masterpieces. The steady flow of powder often chokes you, as a result, causing discomfort at every possible step. In-spite of these adversities, photographers from across the country put aside their inner fears and storm into the arena in the quest of some immortal frames. It goes without saying that every photograph shot in this festival would remain special purely because of the blood and sweat expended by the photographer in the process of freezing those iconic moments. I deliberately included the “photographer on the pole” in this frame as a portrayal of the struggles that we encounter in the process of documenting such challenging scenarios. CAN YOU LISTEN TO THIS PHOTOGRAPH? The collector of this piece gets a special airdrop of another iconic photograph shot on the same day at the same place! Location – Pattan Kodoli, Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India Edition – 1/1 Dimensions – 4000 × 5528 DPI: 300 About the photographer: A Manager by profession working with one of the Big 4’s of consulting, Sammya has been an aspiring “scribbler” right from the age of 3. Story telling has been pretty much his forte which has gradually evolved into a riveting “pursuit for photo-stories” on the Streets of Calcutta; an interest that has gradually transformed into a zest. Fondly called as “Deckle Edge” (his social media avatar), he is also the founder of Calcutta’s very first and the largest Instagram community “Calcutta Instagrammers” that has conducted hugely successful Instagram-walks & knowledge sharing sessions in the city and have been featured in leading print media houses and popular online media like National Geographic Magazine, Mashable, First post, Social Samosa etc. highlighting the success. As a passionate Street Photographer, he has won numerous photography competitions and awards at the National and International level including features by top Photography brands like Canon, Nikon, NatGeo Traveler, Animal Planet, Fujifilm India, Idea Cellular, Vodafone, Sennheiser India etc. He is also the winner of India’s biggest live photo contest Canon Photo Marathon India 2019 and recently traveled to Japan to represent the country at the Grand Finale of the Canon Asia Marathon 2019. He has also conceptualized and executed a number of successful mixed-media-events like Calcutta Art Confluence and has been the brand ambassador of Vivo India mobiles. His contribution to the book “SoulCity-Inside Stories from Calcutta” is a manifestation of his love, attachment and allegiance towards his “Soul-City”- Calcutta, a book that features one of his short-stories and some of his memorable photographs. He has assisted in curation of photographs for a recently launched book – “The Temporary Calcuttan” and enriched the photo-gallery of the recently renovated Metcalfe Hall. License: Primary NFT holder is free to use in display privately and in groups, including virtual galleries, documentaries, and essays by the holder of the NFT, as long as the creator is credited. Provides no rights to create commercial merchandise, commercial distribution, or derivative works. Copyright remains with the creator.