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Packing for Holi in India

It’s late. I’m cleaning, testing and packing gear ready for a few weeks shooting in India and I’m uploading images to Photoshelter for a client at the same time.

The image below is one that’s been licensed but it’s an image that I haven’t revisited for a while so I thought I’d share it. This young man was washing his hands under a tap in the kitchen of Tamshing Goemba in Bhutan. There’s not a lot more to say about it other than I liked his expression and the fact that he was clearly intrigued by the English travel photographer who he found lurking in the shadows.

A boy washing his hands in the water from a running tap, Tamshing Goemba, Jakar, Bhutan (Gavin Gough)

I’m always excited at the prospect of returning to India, which is rapidly becoming a home away from home, but especially so on this occasion as I have some new gear to test and will be photographing the Holi festival celebrations in Vrindavan and the nearby villages of Barsana and Nandgaon.

Always colourful, Holi is a full-on celebration where a photographer has the double challenge of creating eye-catching images whilst protecting their gear from the coloured powders, water and goodness-knows-what-else that will be thrown with great enthusiasm and wild abandon. It will be a boisterous, rambunctious and rowdy affair and I hope to come away with images that capture the exuberance of Holi. Watch this space.

Posted on Friday, March 11th, 2011 at 1:54 am. Filed under: Blog, My work, Travel Tags: RSS 2.0 feed.

6 Responses to “Packing for Holi in India”

  1. Maria Joao hedemark says:
    March 11, 2011 at 2:40 am

    I Love Vrindavana !!!You will have a blast of color during Holi !!!
    Cant hardly wait to see your Photos.

  2. T-roy says:
    March 11, 2011 at 2:57 am

    Gavin,
    Are you doing this on your own or are you doing classes? I asks because was thinking of coming up there from Goa to attend the holiday and would to meet up with you if your going to be in the area. Will be brining my light kit but figured I’d just go raw with it, as a first timer to this event I know it will be crazy. :)

  3. Nath says:
    March 11, 2011 at 3:57 am

    Enjoy your time and don’t forget few night shots for me :-)

  4. Brian Miller says:
    March 12, 2011 at 12:27 am

    Wow, I can’t wait to see the images you create from the Holi festival. Best of luck keeping your gear dry!
    And this is such a sweet shot on this post. Thanks for sharing it.
    ~Brian

  5. chuck kuhn says:
    March 12, 2011 at 10:48 am

    Great photo, plus his red sweatshirt really makes this photo pop. Best wishes on your trip, darn I don’t get there until April, my first trip. Tks

  6. Jordan Banks says:
    March 14, 2011 at 9:29 pm

    Was looking at your images from Vrindavan following a web search for images as I am about to leave Goa on the 16th to cover the Holi festival for my agency and noticed you are also going to be there. Would be great to meet up and have a beer with another paint covered photographer if your up for that? I am so use to working alone it would be nice to see a fellow pro in the field. Hope you dont mind me asking? Jordan