In the early 1930s, the streets of Calcutta were frequented by a young man armed with a sketch book and photographic equipment, who was either patiently sketching a scene or clicking away with his camera. This was Shambhu Shaha (1905-1988), one of India’s pioneering and best known photographers. Shaha was among the first Indians to graduate from using a large format camera to a small one, and to specialize in candid photography. His spontaneous shots of everyday life, along with his portraits of historical figures, capture a whole era in our national and cultural life, marking India’s transition from pre-to post-Independence. Shaha’s most famous photographs capture the last years of Rabindranath Tagore, one of the greatest thinkers India has produced, and the sylvan beauty of Santiniketan, the seat of Visva-Bharati University, founded by Tagore himself. Although he is best known as ‘Tagore’s photographer’, his work encompasses royal weddings, portraits of famous personalities and national leaders, the refugee influx into Calcutta in the early 1970s, street life, industrial photography and architecture. This volume brings together, for the first time, in print, his best-known photographs, along with a comprehensive biographical essay, and a selection of his sketches. Chandrima Shaha is the daughter of Karuna and Shambhu Shaha. Ms Shaha learned photography from her father. She is a scientist currently working at the National Institute of Immunology in New Delhi. Ms Shaha has undertaken a comprehensive documentation and cataloguing of her parents’ works.
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