debalsen-artworktrust.org

REVIEWS

There are few people who known, documented and celebrated the Sundarban as well as Dr. Debal Sen. This is not a book, it's a poem... a love letter to the world's largest mangrove forest and home to the Royal Bengal Tiger.

Bittu Sahgal

Editor, Sanctuary Asia

Founder, Sanctuary Nature Foundation

REVIEWS

Your book on mangroves is nothing short of a visual pilgrimage. Every page draws me deeper into a world that feels at once fierce and fragile, ancient yet alive in the moment. The photographs are marvels - windows into places and moments most of us could never witness with the naked eye. Without your lens, how could I have stood so close to the steady gaze of a crocodile, or seen the chilling beauty of a snake’s blue, bifurcated tongue, or the almost hypnotic gleam in the eye of a Russell’s viper? These images are not merely captured; they are experienced through your vision.

What struck me just as deeply is the way you have arranged the journey - from the raw wilderness, teeming with life that commands respect, to scenes of utter serenity where light and water blend into a meditative calm. It’s as if the book breathes, moving between heartbeat and stillness, between thrill and quiet wonder. The light-washed waterscapes stopped me on my tracks. They feel almost like a dream distilled onto paper - moments when the world slows down and asks nothing of you but to look, feel, and lose yourself. Those frames carry not just beauty, but an emotional hush.

I find myself unable to simply ‘go through’ the book. I linger over every page, letting each photograph sink in, tracing the way your thoughts have shaped the story behind the images. I am internalising not just what you saw, but how you saw it - and that takes time. This is not work to be hurried through. It is a gift that asks for presence.

There is still so much for me to see in these pages, but I already know this: only someone with a truly healing hand could create something that moves between the wild’s ferocity and nature’s gentlest embrace with such grace.

Thank you so much for the copy of Mangroves 2. I will read and see further and write to you again and I hope many more people take interest in procuring the book in order to understand what a beautiful world it is, beyond and how we in cities perceive it.

Madhumita Chowdhury

REVIEWS

"Completely enjoyed Mangroves 2.

The piece reads like a vivid fragment from a travel diary that borders on myth-making. The imagery is lush and attentive - starting with the hermit crab, rendered almost as a stoic warrior in miniature, carrying its “huge pink and white armour.” The attention to its movement, the fragile legs, the eyes swiveling with nervous vigilance, is almost meditative. Your patient observation that broadens into a more primal, survivalist tone as the journey is resumed ,sensing unseen dangers.

I like your narrative shifts from delicate naturalist detail to something almost mythological - the crocodiles become invisible “dragons of Eden,” the sun transforms into a monster with a fiery breath. The walk itself isn’t just a walk; it feels like a ritual of endurance, where the body becomes a “quivering antenna.”

However, I could feel a palpable undercurrent of loneliness - no Crusoe-like discoveries of other humans, no companionship, just a solitary figure moving through beauty edged with menace. The contrast between the jeweled lagoons and the lurking crocodiles, between stillness and danger, gives the text its tension which I absolutely love. On whole the writing reads part fable along with your travelogue - a striking blend that lingers on like each vivid picture plate the binds the masterpiece together.

A complete compilation of experience of an integrated soul.

I feel blessed.

Thank you so much."

Madhumita Chowdhury

REVIEWS

Just gone through Debal Sen’s photography website. It is not just a gallery of pictures - it feels like a journey through emotions, memories, and moments frozen in time. Each frame speaks with its own quiet poetry, reminding us how beauty exists in the simplest corners of life. Truly a heartfelt experience.

Anirban Ganguly

Wildlife Photographer

REVIEWS

Sacred Forest is a deeply contemplative piece that blends lyrical nature with spiritual storytelling. Set against the majestic backdrop of ancient mountains and shifting seasons, the narrative opens like a painting—rich in sensory detail and poetic cadence. Dr.Sen demonstrates a remarkable gift for description, transforming landscape into emotion and nature into a living spiritual presence.

At its heart, the story explores a timeless human theme: the journey of a seeker. Through the quiet exchange between a wise shaman and an eager young boy, the narrative gently unfolds the idea that true wisdom is not taught but revealed—through stillness, patience, and connection to the natural world. The symbolism of water carrying sacred essence, of dreams as portals to truth, and of forests as guardians of ancient mysteries gives the story mythic depth

A beautifully envisioned story that resonates with spiritual grace and poetic depth Is a memorable work of mystical literature by Dr.Debal Sen.

Madhumita Chowdhury