Street Photography in India
Just before returning home from Bhutan this past March, I made a personal stop in India. Somehow or another I got incredibly lucky as my project with MyBhutan wrapped up just as the famous Holi Festival of Colors had begun.
Now before I share the photo collection that I got from the Holi Festival, I wanted to post a quick collection of images that I shot in-between the festivities while roaming the ancient city streets of Mathura and Vrindavan. I hope you enjoy what I came up with!
While it was honestly somewhat overwhelming at first, I very quickly felt so at home amongst the chaotic hustle & bustle of the city. I spent so much time just wandering through the streets with no specific destination while occasionally stopping to shoot a handful of quick portraits. The people were always kind enough to pause for a moment while I photographed them although I felt like I was happier with the images that I shot candidly.
I also enjoyed photographing the monkeys that roamed the streets. Although they can be slightly aggressive, It was fun blending wildlife photography with street photography while observing how they lived closely amongst humans.
While I ended up spending most of my time shooting your average street photography // portraiture, I slowed down and spent a little bit of time trying to capture the fast pace and chaos of the streets. To do so, I used a slightly longer shutter speed to blur the motion of the background people and vehicles. In hindsight, I wish I spent more time shooting with this style but I know I’ll be back for another go at it once countries begin to reopen and it is safe again to travel.
Street photography is still very new to me but it has quickly become one of my favorite things to photograph. I felt like my time wandering through the streets of Mathura were full of so many amazing and different moments that it was sometimes hard to choose what to point my camera at.
Although it was a relatively short trip, I had an amazing time visiting India. The Holi Festival was incredible and I’m looking forward to sharing that image collection within the next couple weeks or so. Thanks for taking the time to check out this photoseries!
Traditional Bhutanese Dancers
Over the past three years, I’ve been fortunate enough to make several trips out to Bhutan while working on assignment for MyBhutan. The following photo collection contains images that I’ve shot of the country’s various traditional dancers shot in Punakha Valley & Eastern Bhutan.
Some of my favorite images were shot during the winter in the tiny, disconnected village of Merak with the Brokpa Tribe in Eastern Bhutan. The Brokpa tribe put on an amazing show and even included a large Yak costume that would at times playfully run towards the audience and come close to ramming them with the horns.
After the ceremony, I spent some time doing a portrait session with the tribal dancers, unmasked.
Special thanks to Matthew DeSantis, Tshering Wangdi and Bethany Betzler for taking the following behind the scenes images. Also, big thanks to MyBhtuan for having me onboard to shoot and coordinating with the local dance teams to make this series happen.
Bhutan is such a special country to me. I strongly feel like visiting should be on everyone’s bucket list. If you’re interested in seeing it for yourself, get in touch with the people at MyBhutan and make it happen!
Holi Festival India Photography
Just before returning home from Bhutan this past March, I made a personal stop in India. Somehow or another I got incredibly lucky as my project with MyBhutan wrapped up just as the famous Holi Festival of Colors had begun.
Experiencing and photographing the festival had always been on my bucket list.
Losar Festival Photography
A photography collection capturing Bhutan's Losar Celebration
