The Ambassadors of Kolkata

 

"The only thing in the car that doesn't make a sound is its horn." - And if you know India, that joke is all the funnier. 

 

Since 1957, Hindustan Ambassadors have been rolling the streets of Kolkata and entrenched themselves in the city's identity. They are simply iconic. Sadly, their days seem numbered. With new legislation aimed at curbing pollution (which is sorely needed), these old cars aren't able to meet the emission standards and being taken off the road. According to this article, only about 1,500 were on the streets when I visited in February of 2026. This is down from 7,000 just two years ago. I have no idea how many there were when I first visited Kolkata in 2012, but they were everywhere.

Still in my portfolio today, Kolkata 2012

I'm nostalgic by nature. Even as a child with my first camera, I was aiming for a sense of nostalgia when I looked at my photographs. I have wondered when the photos I have taken will start to look like the vintage photos I've loved; when everything will be outdated, but in a glorious way. In a way that may mark a simpler time. "Oh, back then, we used to have to hold phones and tap on them." I joke, but I have wondered what will appear antiquated, what will be appalling, and what will be considered timeless. 

 

 

I am drawn to timeless classics. While I think it's important to include all aspects of the era I am working in, I do prefer when a you can't tell when decade an image was taken in.  I prefer when people are actually doing something interesting, rather than just staring at a screen in their hands. In a few decades, I think people will look back and wonder what in the actual fuck we were doing with ourselves. Perhaps it'll be like those ads with doctors promoting cigarettes. Maybe people will look amusingly at the simpletons who just stared into glowing jeweled screens like hypnotized monkeys... but I digress.

 

As it is now, the Ambassadors are a blast from the past. At once a modern classic and a rolling antique. I feel fortunate to have had the chance to not just photograph them, but to witness an era that I think future generations will look at with a similar sense of awe, wonder and romanticism as I do with photos from 79 years ago.