If there is one aspect of photography that I love, it's capturing people in portraits. A stolen glance, a shy smile, a demanding look, sweet speculation, a vulnerable honest emotion, captured for infinity.
Amidst all my captures so far, the most beautiful has been of the locals, the penniless wanderers, people who take the streets of this city to be their home, people at religious shrines, people who breathe in the essence of this country. People of the soil.
They'd be walking on a path known to them, going about their daily rut, when suddenly a girl with a big, scary device in her hand will approach them, asking their permission to take a picture of them. They'll hesitate, they'll fidget, they want to ask a million questions, they want to know who I am, put their fears to rest, refuse even, but with a smile like that of a child, they'll relent. They wouldn't know how to pose, they'll fidget some more, they'll assume a lost look, transporting themselves to a space only they are privy to. In the meantime the shot has been taken and they haven't registered what just happened.
In those last moments of parting I wish to know what they are feeling but they've already excused themselves and I know I've encroached their privacy enough already. A smile is shared and we carry on. Simple, shy, awkward, trusting, beautiful.
These images are my collection of such splendid encounters so far. Each image speaks something to me. I hope it does the same to you.
Namaste
