Children larking in the duckweed in a pond in Sunderban, West Bengal, India. The image may be a playful, somewhat surreal one, but duckweed is notorious for encouraging the growth of anaerobic bacteria which creates toxic conditions for other forms of life in water bodies. Sunderban has a chronic freshwater shortage problem too.
Self-taught photographer Prasanta Biswas, who is based in the region, often depicts environmental themes in art-oriented images. ‘I never thought I would be a photographer,’ he says. ‘I wanted to be a painter.’ For someone who talks about discovering his vocation almost in terms of stumbling upon it, he has made quite a name for himself, exhibited widely both nationally and internationally with a string of awards to match.
