2 weeks in India

How to boil down my 2 weeks in this country to a blog post….. it was quite a challenge.  Although the majority of what I do is fashion and modeling photography, my initial roots and inspiration lie in travel photography.  To be able to place myself in foreign locations and countries and to be able to document it with my style of photography is very rewarding to me.   It’s a departure from working with hair and makeup artists and styling teams…. it’s just me, a foreigner, living in the experience and interacting with the people of this country.  I view the portraits as a reflection of that interaction.  For the viewer, it’s part documentary, it’s part creativity, and it’s very much a chance to experience a country through my eyes.

I chose India for this trip because the history, culture and architecture have always been amazing, and somewhat mystical to me.  The people that I talked to that had gone said that it was a “powerful cultural experience.”  It did not fail in that aspect.  India is a land of extremes.  These extremes are often juxtaposed in the most powerful ways…. the man who was washing clothes in a polluted river at the base of the Taj Mahal…. the people that drive scooters and motorcycles past cows down narrow streets that are thousands of years old.  India is ancient…. it’s mysterious… yet, it’s fast-paced and evolving.  It’s a country that proudly retains it’s multi-layered cultural heritage, yet undeniably is impacted by outside influences and ideals.  It’s also a country that struggles with the real world aspects of learning how to sustain over 1 billion people, each with dreams and goals, just as we all have.  This is what I wanted to capture…. all aspects. Some of these pictures were fun to take, some of them were awe-inspiring… some of them were difficult, emotionally.   My goal with travel isn’t to be pampered, it’s to experience.  India is majestic, dynamic, crowded, frenetic, passionate… and larger than life.  These pictures are how I experienced, how I saw, how I felt…. this country on the other side of the planet…. India.