Crossroads

As a child, Debsuddha often spent time in the suburbs of Kolkata, India, where two of his aunts, Gayatri and Swati Goswami, were born albinos. They suffered discrimination from a young age and avoided going out. This circumstance led these sisters to build their own isolated inner world. Their home became their daytime sanctuary, where they enjoyed their passion for music, before venturing outdoors at nightfall. Debsuddha chose chiaroscuro to depict this environment in 2020. Combining spontaneous snapshots and staged portraits, these tender melancholic images reveal the close bond these two sisters share. Crossroads, commended with the 2023/24 Images Vevey Book Award, is a powerful illustration of love and resilience and an intimate portrait of social exclusion.