A book of photographs documenting the city’s street life was launched on Wednesday.

Alexandre de Mortemart, 64, took the pictures between 2017 and 2024.

Mortemart said he did not dive into the lives of people he photographed but captured them as they were seen in the daily environment.

Daily wage earners and people earning their livelihoods on the streets feature prominently in the photographs.

A ragpicker with a sack on his shoulders, a man in front of an empty desk selling travel tickets or members of performing bands — the photographs depict the women and men who toil to make a living in the city.

“The band members are struggling to remain happy, but they have to bring happiness to the occasions where they are playing. The ragpickers serve such an important purpose by collecting recyclable garbage,” Mortemart told Metro while turning the pages of his book.

Mortemart has also photographed inanimate objects that resembled human faces.

A plastic sheet covering the dust emanating from a building under repair is one such. The slits in the sheet and the way they have developed resemble the eyes and lips of a human face. “Faces interest me,” he said.

The book, Mystical, has 110 pictures, all in black and white. “I come from the black-and-white world. I prefer the quality of silver gelatine print vis-a-vis digital photographs,” he said.

The book features a series where a mannequin is photographed every year between 2019 and 2024.

It begins with the mannequin in a blazer and trousers. The structure slowly wears away. First, one of the feet breaks, then both break, and the mannequin is tied with something to prevent its fall.

“I spoke to the 94-year-old tailor outside whose shop I found this mannequin. He told me fast fashion had destroyed his business,” Mortemart said.

The France-born photographer came to Calcutta in 1998 after marrying
his wife Rima, but he “started photographing street life in Calcutta from 2017”.

He now lives between Calcutta and Paris.

Mortemart started as a photographer for some French dailies.

“In between, I have been a filmmaker for some time, but now I am again fully focused on photography,” said Mortemart, whose journalistic assignments include the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

His book was launched last month at Paris Photo, a fair dedicated to photography and image-based art. “We managed to sell all copies of the book at the fair,” he said.

Wednesday’s book launch in Calcutta was at The Bengal Club.