A Requiem to a Rickshaw Puller

Subhas, a hand pull rickshaw walla.

Alou and I have traveled to Kolkata to visit with friends for a few days. I had some time yesterday to walk the streets with the Jenbei HD 600. I love Kolkata’s uniqueness, even within India. This city’s taxis are a different color (yellow) than other parts of India, it’s the last place in the world you will find hand pulled rickshaws, and the buildings have a turn of the century (19th century) colonial feel. Overall, it is a lovely city covered in years of patina.

One of the biggest shocks for me was that since my last visit here three years ago, there seems to be a massive decline in the number of pulled rickshaws. If you recall, I did a story on them a few years back. With my new found love of off-camera flash, I thought it would be fun to make a nicely lit portrait of a rickshaw puller.

This is the result. This is Subhas, a hand pull rickshaw walla from West Bengal. At least, I think that is his name. It was hard to tell, he mumbled, and I think he had a mouthful of paan. We hired him for an hour and paid him some extra. He was extremely cooperative and very willing to be photographed. In the end we had many people walk by and enter the frame. Some walked into the frame by accident, others on purpose. It was all fine by me. I wanted more than just a portrait. I wanted this to be a something special. I wanted the image to have the uniqueness of Kolkata. I hope I achieved that.