THESE stunning images have helped land a heart doctor at York Hospital a string of photography awards.

In his day-to-day life, Dr Sanjay Gupta, 41, is a consultant cardiologist.

But in his spare time he turns his hand to photography - a talent he developed at night school while learning advanced cardiac imaging at Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA.

A former winner of a National Geographic Traveller Photographer of the Year award, Sanjay’s remarkable pictures of pilgrims at Kumbh Mela festival in Allahabad have since made him a finalist in the Wanderlust Travel Photographer of the Year awards.

Sanjay spent five days at the Hindu festival, which was attended by 100 million people, taking photographs of the many individuals he met there, including many homeless people.

He said: “It was amazing to see so many people in one place. They came looking for God. It’s amazing to see the devotion which exists in people’s minds.”

Sanjay said he was particularly moved by the happiness of the homeless people he met and the sense that true happiness is brought about by sharing.

Some of his other award winning pictures come from his travels in Africa. The father-of-two, who currently lives with his family in Brough, said he found photography to be a creative outlet from his busy life in medicine.

He said: “When I was at Harvard, I started going to classes twice a week and I came home buzzing. It was the best part of my day. When we are taught medicine, we don’t learn anything else. You go to work and see people’s misery and come home very tired.

“I can throw myself into photography. It’s immediately gratifying.”