In a place defined by density, movement and human connection, my photography in Kolkata turns away from spectacle and architecture to concentrate on everyday encounters; moments of resilience, warmth and vitality that reveal the city through those who live and shape it. Kolkata’s energy is inseparable from its people, and it is through them that the city’s character is most clearly expressed.

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The city's epithet - City of Joy - originates from the title of the 1985 book by the French writer Dominique Lapierre (1931-2022) which chronicled life in Kolkata’s poorest communities while foregrounding dignity, humour and humanity in the face of hardship. Over time, the term has become inseparable from the city’s identity, capturing a spirit that persists amid complexity and contradiction. My long-form documentary project in Kolkata - inspired by Lapierre's 1985 book - engages with this idea not as a slogan but as a lived experience, observed at street level in gestures, expressions and shared spaces.

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Kolkata: City of Joy by Simon Hill HonFRPS

To be published in October 2026

ISBN 978 1 9993468 4 3

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Photography Note

To move freely and work with immediacy in such a dynamic environment, all of these photographs were made using a Leica Q2 Reporter - a full-frame 47.3MP digital camera with a fixed 28mm prime lens. This limitation of equipment allows for closeness and continuity, encouraging photographs that are immersive, direct and grounded in the physical and very personal experience of being present within the city.

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I am hugely grateful to my friend, the photojournalist Subrata Datta, for taking the time out of his schedule to guide me around the city he has called home for all of his life.