India | Rishikesh – Delhi – Agra (2015)

Way back in December of 2015 my travel companion and I (Jennifer Michelson of A Girl and A Camera Photography fame – who makes an appearance in the blog if you have a sharp eye) and I set out on sojourn through several of Asia’s many amazing destinations (Japan, Myanmar, India, Oman, UAE, and Hong Kong) on our way to photograph a wedding in Delhi, India. We spent a few weeks traveling around various parts of India and many many (many) photos were taken over the course of the travels so I’m actually going to have 3 blog posts just devoted to India. This is the first in the series and if you’re following along on a map we started in Rishikesh (famous for housing the Ashram where the Beatles studied meditation) and then made out it down the Ganges to Haridwar where we saw the Ganga Aarti (all those people around the Ganges floating candles and bathing). Afterward, we headed back down south to Delhi and then on to Agra and the Taj Mahal.

And I’ll be honest…India was pretty rough just physically being there. India is a land that holds some dubious distinctions – it’s one of the most populous and crowded countries in the world (it has a billion more people than the USA and has almost caught up with China as being the most populous country despite being 1/3rd the size), has for many years had the most people living in extreme poverty of any country in the world (Nigeria recently overtook it), and has some of the worst air pollution of anywhere in the world (it was shocking to be honest). And despite all of this it’s enchanting. Photographically all that pollution makes for some really interesting light, the people are delightful and beyond kind, and many of them filled with a kind of happiness that you don’t see many places (especially given all of the above-mentioned issues). And despite the fact that we were scared to death of food/waterborne illness – the food was spectacularly delicious.

I will note that my objective in travel photography is generally just to give you a sense of what it was like being there (through my eyes). I mean – I want the images to be impactful and strong as well – but mostly just to represent the place and I hope you enjoy.