Kolkata, 2012

My newest web gallery, “Kolkata: Art, Spirit, 2012,” https://www.billdurrence.com/index/G00007QMbT_AMcUI, concludes my four part photo-essay on my brief visit to Kolkata.

My reason for being there was my Dad. Dad was a farm kid from deep in the country of southeast Georgia who never finished the 7th grade. In WW II he was in the US Army Air Corps, stationed in the Bengal area of Bangladesh and India (all of it India then), and it’s always seemed to me it would have been a huge culture shock for him. I regret he passed before I was curious enough to ask him about his feelings, details of his experience. One thing is, Dad was so low key, took everything with equanimity, at least on the surface, so no matter how much he might have been surprised, most people watching him would not register that. Mom used to say the only way she could tell if he was teasing her sometimes was a little twitch near the corner of his mouth.

I wanted, in some small way, to try to get a feel for what he might have seen, even all these years later.

During my visit, and now reviewing the images, it feels like a creative thread runs through every aspect of life there. Something being practical, utilitarian, doesn’t mean it can’t also be pretty or interesting visually, and the craftsmanship is sometimes spectacular. The gallery runs through a series from art found on the street to elaborate spiritual palaces. In September/October Kolkata celebrates the Durga Puja festival and for months beforehand extravagant straw and clay sculptures and altars are created to only be walked into a river and left to dissolve at the end.

In the countryside, ancient temples are covered with small tiles of bas-relief designs and characters, or groupings, each character uniquely individual.

All four of the Kolkata essay chapters are at https://www.billdurrence.com/index/all