Tranquil Pandemonium

“Birds chirping around you is a beautiful realisation that life is incredibly good. Let this sound be a gentle break in your routine.” – hence including birds in my street or travel photography works has always added a special touch to the frames I believe. It’s almost magical how an ordinary “everyday frame” transforms into something unprecedented with the influx of these enthroned creatures. Their seamless flow not only adds “life” to a frame but creates an everlasting impact on both the creator and viewer’s minds – and as photographers, you always tend to introduce a “twist” in your creation that makes it stand out the in crowd. This photograph, shot on a mystical morning in Delhi, India is one such example. As a photography enthusiast, I firmly believe that being “out there” often impacts your own thought process, your mindset, your workflow in day-to-day life. Hence, at times we do need that little bit of inspiration from somewhere – a little spark here and there to remove that clutter off our minds! And often that spark appears unexpectedly – almost like a gust of wind that puffs off all the onerous jolts. It is said that until you spread your wings; you'll have no idea how far you can fly – and perhaps this striking photograph shot on a gloomy morning at Yamuna Ghat in New Delhi, is representative of this very fact. But believe me, this shot happened pretty much by chance – that too on a day when Mother Nature was pretty much convinced that she would send us home empty-handed. Looking at the impermeable layer of fog in-front of our eyes since 4 AM in the morning, we had no hopes of getting even one decent shot….in-fact, it seemed as if the density was increasing exponentially with every passing minute. Even the regular fishing boats were pretty much stranded at the Ghats, the local fishermen were not confident to set sail even after years of experience. The only hope left was the “rising sun” that could erase the cloak of skepticism and we waited patiently for 3 complete hours in the middle of freezing cold without a jacket hoping against hope. Being an ardent cricket fan, I have always drawn synergies between the sport and real-life events – it is never over till the last delivery – and guess what, to our utter surprise, this unbelievable sight unfolded right in-front of our eyes! I keep saying that “chaos has an under-lying order”, the way this photograph finally out reconfirmed this thought – the use of slow-shutter speed in the middle of an otherwise chaotic scene, created an aura of placidity. The fishing boat in its quasi-static state represents the state of my mind that sought composure in the middle of pandemonium. A photograph that was clicked exactly 2 years after winning the prestigious Canon Photomarathon India 2019 is definitely going to take a special place in your heart! The collector of this piece gets a special airdrop of another iconic photograph shot on the same day at the same place! Location – Delhi, India Edition – 1/1 Dimensions – 3214 × 4016 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.