A visitors at the photography exhibition at Jayadev Bhavan in Bhubaneswar. (Below) A photograph by Jitendra Mohanty. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, June 2: Anxiety of a new journey, desperation to reach home, shelter for the homeless — scenes at the railway station include all that is encompassed between the extremes of expressions.

Moments from this museum of life were put together in the photographs by shutterbug Jitendra Mohanty at an exhibition held in Jayadev Bhawan. Titled Panaroma of Life Platform, the two-day photographic display explored interesting images that one comes across at the railway station everyday.

The struggle of passengers to get into the train was illustrated in some of Mohanty’s works with funny captions. Also, the risk taken by travellers as they cross platforms using tracks were showcased from angles which showed the train approaching close. However, it was not just serious sights from the railway station, he also captured some lighter moments of life in his lens.

In a photograph captioned Counting happiness, a teenaged boy leans on a train while counting the day’s earnings. In another picture, a man is seen taking a shower at a leaking tap on the railway track. Similarly, a photograph showed porters sitting together on the baggage cart and ‘wheeling away time’, as the caption suggested.

Mohanty’s photo collection also throws light on the excitement of a journey, endless wait for the train and fatigue of travelling, through the expressions of children, youngsters and elderly people.

“Once I observed an old couple awaiting a train that was announced to be late by four hours. With their baggage around, they sat quietly continuing their wait with despair in their eyes,” said Mohanty. “But I saw small children excited about the journey while some young travellers were sitting lost in the world of thoughts during the wait,” he said. It took Mohanty close to three months to collect all the photographs.

“I started making rounds of the Bhubaneswar railway station and the Lingaraj station last winter. I would drop in there and observe people for hours, the outcome of which are the 40 odd photos exhibited here,” said Mohanty.

Visitors at the exhibition were impressed with the wide range of subjects that the photographer presented in his collection from just one spot – the railway station.