Matt Brandon and I have both written posts about Mitchell Kanashkevich recently and I've been enjoying getting to know Mitchell's work of late. I was especially pleased therefore when he mentioned that some of his photos are featured in the May edition on Digital Photo Magazine and the double-page spread showing four of his pictures of the Rabari, an ancient nomadic tribe from Western India. The picture entitled "Kutch Diamond" (top left) is exquisite. There's an old photographic expression that goes something like "Take a colour portrait of a person and you show the person, take a black and white portrait of a person and show their soul". Well, look into the little girl's eyes for a moment and I think you'll agree that Mitchell has succeeded in capturing the very essence of his subject in a colour photograph.

I recommend that you take a look at this photo on Mitchell's web site as it has even more impact than in the magazine scan here.

Tags: india

The April edition of Digital Photo Pro magazine includes my brief account of a day photographing in Varanasi, northern India. The article is one of a series of "Working Lives" pieces that the magazine carries every month. The full text of the article follows:

"I've never been what you might call a “morning person”. However, I'm much more likely to throw back the covers with enthusiasm when the alarm rings if I'm in a great location and know that the potential for eye-catching photos is just outside the door. In Varanasi, the alarm barely sounds before I'm up and searching around in the darkness for my camera bag. For a Travel Photographer, Varanasi is a real gem and I always get that sense of being a “kid in a sweet shop” when I'm here.

I plan to leave the hotel, which is at the southern edge of the main town, take a small ferryboat up the Ganges to the northern end of town and then to walk back along the river, photographing the many activities that take place on the string of ghats that line the riverbank. It's pitch black as I tiptoe out of the hotel and I need a torch to help me pick my way through the maze of cow pats that dot the narrow alleyways or galis towards the river.

Despite the early hour, the ferrymen who sleep in their small, wooden boats have a sixth sense and know when there's a potential passenger nearby. I quickly accept one of the many called offers for a ride and step aboard a rocking rowing boat. It's a magical time to be on the river. The only sound is the slip-slap of the ferryman's oars in the water and the first, golden band of light is only just starting to bring illumination to the ghats and riverside temples.

I'm shooting stock material for Getty and Lonely Planet Images and whilst Varanasi is rich in potential material, I'm also conscious that I need to look for more than the usual run-of-the-mill images. I have a list of potential shots and ideas and I'll refer to this during the day although, inevitably in a place like Varanasi, the great diversity of subject matter will dictate what I actually photograph as the day progresses.

I usually carry three Canon 'L' lenses with a 1Ds MKII body. The f/2.8 70-200mm IS is a wonderful lens and I'll have this on the camera for much of the day. For stock use, having a camera with higher resolution can make all the difference. Larger images give potential clients more flexibility and with Travel Photography being such a competitive market it makes sense to grab what small advantages one can.

I find lots to photograph as I walk towards Manikarnika Ghat, one of Varanasi's main cremation ghats. Even this early there are log pyres burning but it's not a place to photograph so I move on, knowing that there are some locations that really should remain unseen.

The burning ghats show how people lead their lives very much in the open here. The river soon becomes much busier with people performing their early-morning ablutions, praying, meditating, washing their laundry and even scrubbing their oxen clean. The Chai-sellers have set up shop and are soon serving a queue of eager tea-drinkers. A hot, sweet chai is a perfect way to start the day in Varanasi.

In the course of the next few hours I wander slowly back south along the river, photographing couples getting married, children flying kites, men getting haircuts and women gossiping as they lay out their washing to dry on the steps. All life is here.

Back at the hotel there's just time to download the morning's photos to a laptop and grab a bite to eat before heading back out to do the same route in reverse, ready to catch the evening light. Varanasi is such a delight, I'll probably set the alarm clock even earlier tomorrow."

Tags: interviews, india

I've been putting together a selection of images for a themed competition. These five images showing people's hands won't be in the final selection but I do like them and so thought they were worth posting to the blog. The theme of the competition is, loosely, "people". You can tell a lot about a person by their hands of course. And these hands in particular give away a lot about the people they belong to.


I was pleased with the picture of the woman praying because it seems to say a lot about her religious devotion without even showing her face. Hands tattooed with henna are something you can see often in India although I was pleased to find a lady wearing a sari with such wonderfully sympathetic colours. Those reds and oranges really go with the henna. The man pouring sweet Jalebi mix into hot oil didn't seem to be doing a roaring trade although he was wearing the grubbiest t-shirt in the whole of India so perhaps he wasn't a great advert. The old man's hands, placed on his knees like that, were an obvious subject although he seemed slightly bemused by my request to photograph his cigar. He shrugged his agreement and kept perfectly still, even, I suspect, holding his breath. Sometimes being a strange foreigner can be an advantage. Lastly, the lady's hand on the photo on the right is holding out an offering of flower heads. She was selling small newspaper parcels of flowers to devotees at the Pushkar Camel Fair. Pilgrims would pay a couple of rupees for the flowers, take them to a nearby ghat and release them onto the water.

So, let's hear it for hands. In fact, let's give our five-fingered friends a big...

Tags: india, themes, photography