ODOP-LC: Kolkata

Wednesday, 17 July 2013

14th July Terreti Bazar-Street & Food Photo-walk.

Hello people,

Missed reading this blog? Well, back with a new Photo-walk memory, and its about the latest Photo-walk at Terreti bazar(market) which is a famous food spot for the chinese people cos none can resist those awesome dumplings, well dumplings, as we call momo is equally special among us as well..Isn’t that so? And also the Chinese New Year happens every year at this area, and it’s indeed a marvelous scene, hundreds of people gather around the street and you cannot blink for a sec, you blink you miss, cos each second is a pleasure for the eyes! So, as planned we all joined the Photo-walk for Terreti bazar(market) at 6am this 14th of July, the previous day it was raining but luckily this day was sunny and the weather was nice indeed!

Well before we start with more details lets tune back to past and know a little bit about Chinese people and Kolkata..Shall we?

Read on..

“Kolkata, then known as Calcutta, was the capital of British India from 1772 to 1911. It was also geographically the easiest accessible metropolitan area from China by land. The first person of Chinese origin to arrive in Calcutta was Yang Tai Chow who arrived in 1778. He worked in a sugar mill with the eventual goal of saving enough to start a tea trade. Many of the earliest immigrants worked on the Khidderpore docks. A police report in 1788 mentions a sizable Chinese population settled in the vicinity of Bow Bazaar Street.

Many of the Chinese of Kolkata are Christians. A large number of the younger generations became Christians due to the influence of missionary schools they studied in. The Chinese New Year remains widely observed. Hakka Chinese of Kolkata tend to be endogamous but at the same time have integrated into Kolkata society by learning the Bengali language.”

From Wikipedia

Back to Photo-walk now

The group. Photo by: Arin Paul.

We all met near Lalbazar Police Station, everyone was on time, only a few came later.

Our food and street Photo-walk started around 6:15 am, and we all marched together hand in hand clicking whatever things we saw there, people, faces, kids, foods, we saw, we clicked.

After a few minutes, our group started to feel hungry, so they decided to have breakfast, but only a few decided to stick to clicking.

Spotted a man reading early morning newspaper, must be some interesting news, we can surely see that in his expression. Spotted and framed.

Photo by: Malay Ghosh.

A seller lost in his thoughts, what is he thinking by the way? spotted and framed.

Photo by: Somdev Sengupta

And the most affluent buyer..well the shirt is pretty, but smoking early in the morning isn't good for health..spotted and wasted no time. FRAMED.

Photo by: Anirban Roy

The happy lady spotted amidst the crowd. The dumpling tastes yummy!!! *She must be thinking*

Photo by: Tathagata Das

The dream girl of ODOP. Little Brishti :)

Little ODOP'ian.

The busy ODOP'ians. By: Arin Paul

What's he talking about? History of these dumplings? we wonder!

Photo by: Malay Ghosh

The men busy preparing breakfasts for strangers, isn't that a lovely thing? :)

Photo by: Sumit Chakraborty

Which one to choose? haha, getting confused is no big deal at this market!

Photo by: Tathagata Das

Stalking food lovers is an addiction some people have, so clicking photos of them is their duty!

Photo by: Reema

The angry and the busy..

Photo by: Subhash Saha

This is how our group feasts.

Photo by: Arin Paul

Photo by: Ishani Barman

A seller ready to sell.

Photo by: Jaya Roy

Spotted some old friends..

Photo by: Reema.

Innocence is beauty!

Photo by: Aritra Nandy

It's us and them.

Photo by: Rimita Sen

You can check out this Youtube link to see what Terreti Bazar actually looks like- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1ge8MiSnlI

After clicking for a while we visited a nearby Chinese Church “TOONG ON CHURCH”, and with the help of the man in-charge of the Church we got permission to click for a while..and so our food and street Photo-walk turned into Church Photo-walk as well, and wasting no time we decided to decode the beauty of the house of God through our lens :)

Photo by: Bishal Roy

Photo by: Ishani Barman

Photo by: Sumit Chakraborty

Chinese God. Photo by: Ananya Paul

The windows..

Photo by: Somdev Sengupta

The blood red walls!

Photo by: Somdev Sengupta

Photo by: Reema

So, the memory ends here, well its still as fresh as morning dew in our mind, we will cherish it forever. Will be back with some new updates soon, till then stay tuned.

Wednesday, 10 April 2013

This is where we begin.

Hello people,

Let's introduce who we are! We are a community or you may say a group consisting of people who are into photography, office goers, independent film makers, home makers, and plain students who manage time to freeze the moments! It's a simple group of people who share a common love that is Photography. We don't like the word complicated, and thus this community - we like it simple.

Let's rewind to the past, and let's start our journey from there.

This post will be a bit long, so bring a cup of coffee and some Kurkure or Lays Chile Limon with you and scroll down every 10 or 15 seconds, depending on how fast you can read!

ODOP [pronounced as (o-dop)], that's what we love to call, consists of numerous activities, they are,

1. "ODOP – LC Photos of the Day"
2. “ODOP – LC Photos of The Month Contest”
3. “ODOP – LC Photo-Lovers Day – Out”
4. “ODOP – LC Adda at CAMARENA Store, E-Mall, Calcutta (Kolkata)”

1. Photos of the day consists of photos captured by members of ODOP, be it cell phone photography, be it D90, or maybe just a point and shoot cam, it doesn't matter here, all it matters is your love for photography. In this category, members are allowed to post one photo per day, and also support and point out any mistakes and areas for improvement in other's photography, this way we all learn and grow together!

2. Photos of the month contest consist of a theme where members or nonmembers participate and send entries to the official mailing ID; their photos are showcased on our Facebook page and judged on the basis of creativity and uniqueness. Based on that, they are given prizes, and the best one becomes photo of the month.

Prize sponsors are:

CAMARENA
Su Khadyam
Kaushik Roy – Amway Distributor
Short Film DVD’s by anonymous.

3. Photo lovers day out is one of the most exciting part. Here all the group members get the opportunity to click together. Clicking photos in the streets all by yourself is pretty tough, everyone knows that! If you are a member, you know what photo lovers day out is!

4. The fourth one that is the Adda which means a place where people gather for conversation, but this Adda is a lot more than what the definition says! It is held once in a month at CAMARENA Store, E-Mall, Kolkata.

There has been 4 photo contests till now (we just started our journey).

First one Shadows, December theme, and the winners:

1. A Double Winner.. CAMARENA PHOTO OF THE MONTH.. And with 27 likes the Most Liked Photo (Theme: SHADOWS) (December'12 Contest).. Arin Paul

2. With 25 likes the 2nd Most Liked Photo (Theme: SHADOWS) (December'12 Contest).. Trinayana Roy.

3. With 19 likes the 3rd Most Liked Photo (Theme: SHADOWS) (December'12 Contest).. Sutirtha Das.

Photo by: Arin Paul

Photo by: Trinayana Roy

Photo By: Sutirtha Das

January theme – sitting postures, and the winners:

1. CAMARENA PHOTO OF THE MONTH.. Nilanjan Datta

2. Judges Choice.. 1st.. Abhishek Dutta

3. Judges Choice.. 2nd.. Supriyo Mondal

4. Judges Choice.. 3rd.. Sausthab Banerjee

Photo by: Nilanjan Datta

Photo by: Abhishek Dutta

Photo by: Supriyo Mondal

Photo by: Sausthab Banerjee

February theme- low angle photography, and the winners:

1. A Double Winner.. CAMARENA PHOTO OF THE MONTH.. And Judges Choice 1st (February’13 Contest).. Hemant Kumar.

2. Judges Choice 2nd (February’13 Contest).. Subhasis Ghosh.

3. Judges Choice 3rd (February’13 Contest).. Vishal Roy.

Photo by: Hemant Kumar

Photo by: Subhasis Ghosh

Photo by: Vishal Roy

March theme- abol tabol, and the winners:

1. CAMARENA PHOTO OF THE MONTH.. Subhasish Ghosh.

2. Judges Choice 1st (March’13 Contest).. Angshuman Paul.

3. Judges Choice 2nd (March’13 Contest).. Nilanjan Datta.

4. Judges Choice 3rd (March’13 Contest).. Ishani Barman.