Citizens of joy

• Prize
  Honorable Mention
• Photographer
  Anirban Mandal, India
• Date of Photograph
  2022-23
• Studio
  Anirban Mandal Pictures
• Website
  https://anirbanmandal.com/
• Instagram
  @anirbanmandalpictures

Kolkata (old name Calcutta) caught its "tag" of "City of Joy" since the novel was published with the same name by French author Dominique Lapierre in 1985. It had stirred some controversies in eighties because of the portrayal of poverty, slums in the city and again in early nineties, when Rolland Joffe made a Hollywood movie on it starring the late Patrick Swazey.
Kolkata has come a long way since then, with many modern infrastructures and cultural changes like everywhere else. But like any other great city, the hustle and bustle of Kolkata has its own flavor and contradictions.

Anirban Mandal Pictures is home of Fine art photography and paintings by Anirban Mandal, physically available at his gallery stores in Newtown, Kolkata and in Agra, India and through his website or email correspondence (for overseas sale). He also made four short films which have been selected in several international film festivals winning awards. in 2005, his photo of Pittsburgh downtown won the first prize in University of Cincinnati, USA where he was studying master's in mechanical engineering. Coming back to India later, his passion for photography got stronger as he traveled extensively.

Awards Since almost a decade, Anirban's photos are published in National Geographic online and as editors'picks / wallpapers in its annual contests, Dodho magazine online of Spain and are selected in the professional categories of Fine Art, Travel, Abstract, Portraits, Advertising, street in IPA (Int'l Photography Awards), PX3 (Prix de la Photographie, Paris), Moscow Int'l Foto awards, Tokyo Int'l Foto Awards, ND awards, Monochrome awards, HIPA (Hamden Int'l Photography Awards) etc, International Color Awards etc.