The camera in hand is the best — Kolkata street series.

“The best camera is the one in your hand,” the Guardian Photographer Sarah Lee says.

Lo and behold, yes, true, that you see a shot and that’s a slice of life that urges you to capture. The best instrument you have is one that you have on yourself at that moment. Otherwise, that sunlight filtering through the leaves of trees, komorebi, or that sudden peck of two lovers is missed, too.
Someone should capture the photographer who is trying to get the frame right. He/she might be in a weird or contorted position, with bum up and stooping down or propped on one leg with the other extended. But after that, the frustration that persists if the frame is blurred is to the next level. We still go in bushes to get the very next shot and come out with scratches, too. That’s the fun, I suppose.

Some of such shots from 2024 are featured here. I’m just reminiscing about the fun I had either with the phone or the newly acquired camera on Kolkatta streets.

A serendipitous shot at Bada Bazar in Kolkatta while waiting for the taxi after a long walk of “street photography”. No other shot was as good as this.

A pujari who was going around the Bada Bazar in Kolkatta again was blessing every cart. Must the owners of this have appointed him for the same before their day started? It’s not a great shot. I tried a lot, but I couldn’t capture him sprinkle the holy water.