As documented and narrated by Ranvir Deb.
Pentakatha is a fishing community nestled along the Bay of Bengal in Puri. Tucked away from the tourist crowds, it exists in quiet contrast, raw, resilient, and deeply rooted in the rhythms of the sea. I first came here over a year ago after a friend introduced me to the place. What started as just a casual visit slowly turned into a space of genuine familiarity and trust.
While the rest of Puri caters to pilgrims and tourists, Pentakatha goes largely unnoticed. Mornings here start long before sunrise. As boats return from the sea, the air gets heavy with the scent of salt, fish, and labor. This village is the unseen backbone of the town’s seafood supply, quietly sustaining a network far beyond its own shores.
Through these photographs, I wanted to document the people who actually keep this place alive, their daily physical grind, their moments of rest, and their intimate bond with the water.
It is an attempt to look past the postcard version of Puri and capture a reality that exists right next to the tourism.
Ultimately, this isn’t just a story about fishing. It’s about belonging, and a way of life shaped entirely by tides, time, and tradition.
About Ranvir: Ranvir is a visual storyteller drawn to narratives that exist parallel to mainstream attention. His work looks beyond postcard-perfect landscapes to document the unromanticized realities, resilience, and daily labor of everyday communities. For this volume, he spent over a year embedded in Penthakata, in Puri, Odisha, observing a way of life deeply rooted in the rhythms of the sea.