Riya V. Anandwala | Nov. 7, 2008
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| Associate professor Steve Raymer showed work for his next book last week during a meeting of the Bloomington News Photographers Club. |
Raymer has documented India off and on for many years. After his first trip to India in 1973 as a National Geographic photojournalist, Raymer felt an urge to explore Kolkata. In 2003, Raymer traveled to 15 different countries to photograph Indian immigrants in their new lands. This project resulted in a book published last year, Images of a Journey: India in Diaspora.
For this new project, he made a trip to the city last summer for a period of three weeks and shot in extreme climate.
"While my stay in Calcutta, it was raining most of the time,” he said. “I saw sunshine only twice in three weeks."
He faced other challenges, the most common of which were the “no photography” sign boards at most of the public institutions.
"Clicking photographs of the sex workers on the streets was particularly challenging,” Raymer said. “They started throwing rocks at me at a point."
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| Raymer’s ongoing project, titled “Redeeming Calcutta,” is based on India’s cultural capital, Calcutta (now known as Kolkata). |
"Calcutta has always been shown as a city in poverty and rising slums,” he said. “It is much more than just that."
The meeting was conducted by associate professor Jim Kelly and Herald-Times photographer Chris Howell, who are sponsoring the club. Students attending had questions for Raymer about topics such as the ethics of shooting photos abroad and how Westerners are received in India.
Raymer is planning a sabbatical next fall to complete this book of photography.
