Selling lemons on the market in Kolkata.
www.claude-renault.fr

Kids washing flowers in the Hooghly river on the Armenian ghats in Kolkata.
You can see where it is looking at this one
www.flickr.com/photos/clodreno/44262433/in/set-875102/

Buddhists monks waitin,g for the little train to go from darjeeling to Siliguri

The boy is aerating the water where he keeps the fishes he is selling.

To cross the Hoogli river I had to use a "ferry". Those women were going back home, in little villages.

A man picking up some mangoes in Gaur. West Bengal. They are really so good.

A little girl next to the Hoogli river in Murshidabad. She was doing the laundry with her family in the river.
She asked me to take a picture of her.

Shot from inside a restaurant during a monsoon shower in the town of Pandua, 300 klm north of Calcutta.
She came to buy some chapatis.
He was sitting there making them next to the oven. A scene one sees very often.

A small kid in hiding in his mother's arms at the shop in Barhampur, a town on the Ganges in West Bengal..

A rickshaw during the monsoon.

A ceremonial where the goddesss kali will be trhown into the river Ganges.

A ceremonial where the goddesss kali will be trhown into the river Ganges.

A woman fetching water outside her home in a small village outside Murshidabad,
the last capital city of independent Bengal.
Murshidabad is situated on the banks of the Ganges river.

A women cleaning the mosque in Murshidabad, a lovely town alongside the Ganges.

This woman was selling veggies on the sidewalk in Pandua, brinjals, ladyfingers, etc.
She was eating a mango from the place.
As you can see , it was monsoon time.

his is taken in Pandua, not far from Malda in west Bengal. I had a long walk in a rainy day and crossed a few villages where they were rolling those Beedis. The weather was grey, no light and rain...Still I had a extraordinary day..Thanks to those Indian people I met

In the small town of Malda.
Those kids were surprised by the rain playing around rickshaws...
They ran for cover.. but one was curious!...

Preparing rice paddies in Gaur, in West Bengal

Lunch time aboard the train from Siliguri to Malda.
Very good too.

A boy refreshing the flowers not far from the flower market.
Armenian ghats. Kolkata

Juxtaposition next to a shrine on the ghats near the Kali temple in Kolkata.

A poor man under the rain during the monsoon time in Calcutta.
Howrah station ain the background across the Hoogly river.

A man doing his puja under the famous Howrah bridge in Calcutta.

I was walking in Kolkata. Monsoon time. This little girl was waiting under the light rain to cross the busy Jawaharlal
Nehru road, a big artery of Kolkata. She was going in the direction of the Maiden's, a big park.
In 1690, the site of Calcutta was chosen by Job Charnok, an agent of the East India Company, for a British trade settlement.
The place was carefully selected, being protected by the Hooghly River on the west, a creek to the north, and by salt lakes
about two and a half miles to the east.
There were three large villages along the east bank of the iver Ganges, named, Sutanuti, Gobindapur and Kalikata.
These three villages were bought by the British from local land lords. The Mughal emperor granted the East India
Company freedom of trade in return for a yearly payment of 3,000 rupees.

An exhibition I had in England last fall

A boy sitting next to kali inside the Kali temple in Calcutta, an incredible place.

you can see it here, On the cover of this book "The way home"

An exhibition I had in England last fall

A woman praying inside the Kali temple in Kolkata.

An image of a Puja on Babu ghats in Kolkata, along the banks of the Hooghly, a tributary of the Ganges.
It was the monsoon season, but the warm climate doesn’t prevent people from living their usual lives.
It was raining as I had never seen before.
The best time to visit any river in India is in the morning, and this is the busiest ghat at this time.
A flurry of typically Indian activities begins at the crack of dawn as the mist rises and the sun falters
over overnight clouds, to announce yet another day. Bathing. Worship. Commerce. Ceremonies of birth
and death. Then, all of a sudden, the rain falls and falls and keeps on falling heavily.

An exhibition I had in England last fall

Sacred thread being sold not far from the entrance of the Kali temple in Calcutta

Flower market in Calcutta

A puja taking place on Babu ghats as this man is passing buy on his boat.

Crossing the Howrah bridge in Calcutta a man stops suddenly to pray.

An ordinary morning in Calcutta, reading the newspaper, chatting, under the eyes of Kali...

A woman selling flowers for the offerings at the flower market located at the feet of the famous Howrah Bridge in Kolkata

Offerings on the ghats.

A downpour, A gridlock, and A tired taxi driver.. Kolkata.

A rickshaw driver in the middle of the traffic.

A butcher at the meat market.

A picture shot on a street near the main market in Kolkata.
A real had work lifting those loads of rice, sugar or flour...

An image shot in the courtyard of my hotel in Kolkata..
Nice atmosphere there...

Still resting... on Armenia ghats across the Ganges from Howrah Station.

It was raining on the Armenian ghat. Those 3 women found a shelter.. I did too.

I believe all of India can be resumed in this image, the ambassador, the banyan tree, the smiling kid, the offering, the water, and the Woman.

The painter of signs.. one of my favorite book from R.K. Narayan..I shot this on a big street in Kolkata. I love those sign painters.
I had focus on the painter with a good DOF and was waiting for somebody to come into my frame.. Indeed it came.. And he had such a sweet face, sad at the same time..

A baby sleeping on his mother's knees. She is selling offerings near the subway stop, not far from the Kali temple.

In the crowd around kali ghat in Calcutta.
A mother and her baby..

Having fun in the Dakineshwar Kali temple.

A Rickshaw driver resting on his working tool. A hard job.

This a man delivering coal on a Kolkata road.
He was really working hard , and when I smiled to him his face totally changed.

A picture of a man carrying a lot on his head !...
The background is a painted truck.

Mahatma Gandhi road.
This tram driver is watching me !!

a side street "chai corner" cheap and always very good.
A open bar in the streets of Kolkata.
As you can see when you travel there, the Communist party is very strong there,
having governed the State of West Bengal for the past 25 years.

A young man cooking for the family.
The picture was shot on the Armenian ghats,
under the Howrah bridge, behind the flower market.

This Bollywood star, Karisma Kapoor, seems to be saying : "Look at them".
On MG Roasd in Calcutta

An image of the traffic in Calcutta on MG Road..

A diffrent view from Calcutta.
A sheperd and his flock in front of the Victoria Memorial, and yes, it's in the center of the city..

Boats going upstream on the Hoogly river in Kolkata.
Shot from the Howrah bridge.

A woman begging in front of a bank, with her child. It was raining, one spot was dry.
The kind of image I don't like to show or shoot. An aspect of India I seldom show, but it's there. It's becoming more and more like that in our countries too..Strangely enough people tend not to see them here...

A shot of this Kolkata man drinking the national beverage of India.
Chai, tea.
Indian tea is simply delicious, mostly served mixed up with milk, sometime cardamone...

Shot during the monsoon in July 2004

Those women were pilgrims coming to pray at the Kali temple in Kolkata.
In July it can be very hot there, so they went to a restaurant near the temple to get some water.
I liked the colors in this one and also the peculiar way Indians use to drink, as you can see in the background.
The lips usually never touches the bottle or recipient they drink from.. Certainly a cleaner way to do it .I tried it that way...
a big mess.

You can also spot on the poster on the right of the image the most famous actor in India, almost a god like satus : Amitabh Bachchan.

A man hidding behind a loaded cart.

Relative humidity..
Guess where? Kolkata. Don't worry about my cameras, as I was in a cab, window open, and the sign made me laugh..
Just had to be very quick!!