To a probing eye, the marketplace is much more than a place of business. The Great Indian Bazaar, an exhibition of black-and-white photographs by Kushal Gangopadhyay held recently at the Academy of Fine Arts, makes it evident that India’s bazaars are a melting pot, bringing together diverse cultures, people and trades.

For Gangopadhyay, markets are not only about commodities. They are also about characters, each distinct from the other. Thus the two separate photographs, one depicting a sullen arms-seller in Pushkar and the other a smiling bangle-seller in Varanasi, represent dissimilarities not only in mood, dress and habits but also in personas.

There is a geometry in some of these stills that is pleasing to the eye. In the “Roadside Vendor”, for instance, one can see a group of men and women gathered around a cart full of wares, their bodies lined up in an invisible arc.

The bazaar is not a static entity. It changes over time and space. Gangopadhyay depicts this transition — the din and bustle of the local market giving way to eerily silent, plush malls in the cities.

In some of the images, Gangopadhyay also incorporates moments of wry humour. “Garment shop, Varanasi” (picture) shows a man staring at a cow inside a cloth store, with an expression as inscrutable as the animal’s.