Malte Pietschmann (right) and Jonas Harmsen at New Market. Picture by Bhubaneswarnanda Halder

Malte Pietschmann is not the casual backpacker clicking pictures of Calcutta’s landmarks en route to the Himalayas up north.

The Berlin photographer is a Calcutta-phile, capturing the city’s socio-cultural fabric in a documentary tentatively titled Bengali on the Move.

The subtext of the documentary project is to show authentic contemporary Bengali culture to the Western youth.

Pietschmann knows his job, putting in ample use the experience gathered during photography assignments across rural Asia since 2007 —“from India to Bangladesh, from Laos to Cambodia”.

The seeds of “delving deeper into Indian society and catching its socio-cultural movements” germinated after “multiple trips” to India, he said.

“The changes taking place in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore are well reported in the Western media. It’s time to take a closer look at Calcutta, a city that used to be the cultural hub of India,” he added.

Malte the music buff started off with the idea of portraying the electronic music scene in Calcutta.

“We did a few interviews last October and found out that Calcutta has much more to offer… its culture.”

He is back in town with videographer Jonas Harmsen to shoot additional interviews. “Music producer Varun Desai is one of our main characters along with Nishit Arora (from events management firm, Smoke Inc.). A big change is happening at the moment, especially because of the Internet that pushes the development of new youth cultures. Our story is that of emancipation of young people in search of an identity,” Harmsen said.

“Foremost of all, the documentary will show the authentic image of Bengali youth culture to the Western youth,” he added.

“We have great people here willing to help scout for locations, set up shooting schedules and discuss cultural history, the actual scene and the obstacles as well as the outlook of Calcutta’s youth. Our schedule is exhausting but inspiring too,” the videographer said.

As they explored the city’s vibrant subterranean culture, the twenty-something Germans felt that Calcutta is brimming with creativity.

“It has a lot to tell, the scene is rising,” Pietschmann said. “Danke Calcutta!”