What they say about india in the the travel brochures is true. its not just some statement dreamed up by the travel board. well, ok, it is, but the point is , its TRUE! incredible india they call it. i have a hard time disagreeing.i have been many places in my time in asia, and each time i am astounded by what i see, feel , smell, and touch. india is no different. except india is an overload for all those senses. at the same time. its not all roses and rainbows, but no one ever said that incredible had to have all "good" connotations. the contrast of abject poverty and pure money is one that has been touched on countless times. im not going to show that. it was never my intention, what struck me about india was the colours! they are everywhere!

 

A photographer friend of my once describes saigon to me as a black and white city. and to an extent i tend to agree. this city looks better in monochrome. but india! never. around every corner is a new eye burning colour of paint, cloth, vehicle, or even just a wall. the taxies are bright (although somewhat rusted) yellow. the walls go from rusting red to bright fuscia in the span of 4 steps. india is a colour lovers overdose. i had toyed with the idea of shooting india in black and white. but i wanted to see for myself what the place looked like before deciding on a film to use. im glad i did.  the following photos are all from Calcutta. its a unique place, even for india. its simultaniously falling apart and being covered up with new colours at the same time. that makes it an ideal place for a person like me. i love photographing textures, details, and colours. and calcutta has these elements in abundance.

 

The other thing that i wanted to acomplish while on this trip was to try my hand at candid street scenes. contrary to popular belief, i am actually quite shy. i dont like getting into someones face and snapping their photo. i feel it is an invasion of their privacy. (the parties i cover are a different story, ill talk about that in a later essay).so that being said i went out with the intention of trying a style of photography that i feel im "a" not very good at, and "b" too shy to do.i think i had some success. but ill let you be the judge.

i think i have said enough. the photos are whats important here. not what i have to say.

 

 

i dont have any idea what they are making, but it was smoky and they were very friendly, i sat there for an hour.

 

Wazzat thingy do?
 

 

The trams are packed with as many people as possible. and although they are pretty grotty looking, they are awesome to drive around the city on.

 

 

The british left behind some impressive buildings, mainly in the form of churches, they didnt build for functionality, they built to impress, it worked.

 

 

I asked her to move, but she really wanted to be in the photo. okee

 

The ground speeds by on the train from calcutta to siliguri, after 10 years in asia taking trains i always wanted to take one of these shots. india is the only place i could do it. hooray for crappy safety regulations!
 

 

 The sisters of mercy, i heard them sing, it sounds very pretty.

 

 

The driver and a friend spend some time in a typical calcutta traffic jam.

 

down the hallway between carriages on the train. the only place to have a smoke.