Head Start

So, You Like This Man's Turban?

It was a hot, humid night when I walked through a Calcutta street crowded with thousands of happy shoppers about 10 days ago, the night before Id. There was that typical late-evening buzz, so common to the unique city.

There were people haggling over prices. There were children clamouring for refreshments or for some trinkets. There was a sea of people in front of me and a veritable flood of them behind. No jostling, no shouting. No pushing, no shoving. That, my friend, is not the Calcutta way.

I was dripping with perspiration, caused as much by the warmth of the night as it was by the heat emanating from the naked globe-lights adorning each pavement stall. In front of me was a sea of colour - all I had to do was capture it in every shape and form.

I was shooting rapidly, moving as quickly as I could from one side of the street to the other. Then I saw this man. He was a shopkeeper and his face was calm and strong. I don't generally do portraits; I am more into quirky shots, low-light shots or landscapes. But amid the friendly hubbub, his visage was an oasis of calm.

I asked if I could photograph him and he simply nodded, the kindness evident in his eyes and in his body language. He was a gracious man. Looking through the lens, I suddenly realised what a great picture I had in this inky black night of joy. Not just his clear eyes, not just the strength of his face, not just the stubble on his chin and cheeks. It was the fact that the foreground of the shot - if I framed it swiftly enough - was the merchandise hanging in his stall. I had to take the shot very quickly, because he had customers waiting.

Now look again at the photograph. What seems like a gold turban on his head is not really so. He is not wearing ornate headgear. What you see above his head, in soft focus, are just the bright baubles hanging at the front of his stall. I didn't even have time to ask the man's name. I just had time for one shot. It was a lucky effort, because the glow from the shop light was just perfect across his face. D'you reckon I got it right? Leave me a comment to let me know what you think.