On a warm Saturday afternoon, central Kolkata’s Prafulla Sarkar Street was alive with its usual buzz. Moving quietly on his wheelchair, a Leica camera in hand, was Andrea Federico Santicoli, a 61-year-old Swiss traveller, who has been journeying across the world for over two decades. This was his first time in Kolkata, and in just two days, he has already found what he loves most: people.
“I like to photograph someone who gives me something — an emotion,” Andrea says, eyes fixed on a group of men playing cards. “If I don’t feel that emotion, then why take the photo?”
Andrea’s photographs are all in black and white
Andrea’s life changed 22 years ago, when a motorcycle accident left him paraplegic at the age of 39. For many, that could have been the end of the adventure. For Andrea, it was just the beginning of another kind of journey. He retired from his career in banking, traded the walls of an office for open streets, and began travelling with his wheelchair and camera.
“The wheelchair itself is not the real limitation,” he reflects. “It’s the mindset that can hold you back. That’s the real problem.”
Andrea’s photography is entirely in black and white. He doesn’t seek grandeur or postcard-perfect views. Instead, he is pulled towards raw, unscripted scenes of life — people in conversation, children playing, strangers lost in thought, or, as he found in Kolkata, a group of men immersed in cards at 3pm.
“I don’t go out looking for anything in particular,” he says with a smile. “But I hope to find the best — the fullest expression of life happening around me.”
His Leica has been his constant companion, guiding him from the streets of Delhi, Varanasi and Mumbai to Tokyo, Bangkok and beyond. He doesn’t plan routes or follow tourist maps. “I just go wherever the streets take me,” Andrea shrugs. “That’s where the photos are.”
For Andrea, the subject is never a monument or structure, but the pulse of humanity
In Kolkata, Andrea has spent his days wheeling through busy streets, quietly watching, pausing when something tugs at him. He hasn’t mapped out the city or visited the landmarks. For him, the subject is never a monument, but the pulse of humanity. “Street photography surprises me,” he explains. “I love capturing what I don’t expect.”
Despite his disability, Andrea has never stopped moving — physically or artistically. His work is a testament to resilience and an embrace of spontaneity. For those who believe disability limits the world, he offers a different perspective:
“The wheelchair is not the problem. The problem is when you believe you can’t live fully. Everyone faces that in some way. But really — you can travel, you can live.”