vintage hema malini poster

Fighting Gods. Details by Anton Raphael Mengs, mid-18th century, neoclassical

Danish photographer Ken Hermann couldn’t help but be instantly inspired by the sellers of Calcutta’s Malik Ghat flower market, one of the oldest and the largest of its kind in India. Each day, over 2,000 sellers hawk garlands of marigolds, enormous bunches of mango leaves, and handfuls of jasmine and sunflowers – all of which play a huge part in Indian rituals, festivals and weddings. The portraits of these male vendors posing, in front of the Hooghly River with their floral livelihoods, are totally striking and beautiful.