Photographs by Swapan Nayak and Tim Hall (below)

The works of three photographers from three different countries and social situations will be exhibited at the Seagull Art and Media Resources Centre from Sunday. Of the trio, Martine Franck is the best-known name as a member of the Magnum photo agency and also as the wife of Cartier Bresson. The other two are Tim Hall of the UK and Swapan Nayak, who has in the past worked in newspapers and magazines. Thanks to the truckers’ strike, there are doubts about the Martine Franck’s photographs arriving on time for the exhibition opening.

The work of Swapan Nayak, who freelances now, has grown around the people of Assam who live on the char islands of the Brahmaputra river. In this moving, matter-of-fact document, Nayak records how these people, particularly the women and the children, survive on the razor’s edge with or without a home and other earthly possessions. They live in thatched huts, which double as their school for children, feed their ducks and even play the guitar.

Nayak has also documented the miseries of the victims of ethnic violence in the Northeast. He has created some strong images — the young man lying on the boat wearing cheap sunglasses and a headband, a cycle seemingly as recalcitrant as a mule being used to carry a load, a boat being salvaged from flood waters and two marooned women.

Tim Hall explores Varanasi in winter, and his camera captures the beauty of the Ganga and the people who bathe in it. Seen through a thin veil of mist, they look like phantoms making their way through Styx. His lens is focused on women changing in the middle of the river but he avoids being voyeuristic.

He uses dabs of colour like the red turban against the shadow of a temple and the marigold garland floating in the river. The sadhus seen against a white backdrop, however, look a little stagy.

For some time now, canvases and works on papers have been in demand. After all these years the price of art, particularly Indian contemporary art, has escalated in the market. They are in demand in Bengal too. But one cannot say the same for photography.

Although people admire photographs in Bengal they never realise that photographs are for sale, and that their prices depend on their edition. The last print is the most expensive as there is nothing beyond that. Outside the state, particularly in cities like Delhi and Mumbai, they fetch good prices.

In this exhibition, digital prints are on display. But silver gelatin prints are rare these days, and they are priced accordingly.