Posts Tagged ‘Stories’
Travel Portrait in Darjeeling, India
During my first few days in Darjeeling, India, I was determined to try travel portraiture. I had never done it before and was nervous about approaching strangers that didn’t speak English.
Darjeeling is in Himalayas of northern India and most known for its delicious tea, which I can most definitely attest to (I averaged about 7 cups a day!). Early one morning, I set out with a goal to approach at least one person. On my way to the market, I saw this man sitting on the curb. I waved to him and he returned the gesture. As I walked past him, I couldn’t believe that I passed up the perfect portrait opportunity. I went through the market and couldn’t muster up the courage to ask anyone for a portrait. Defeated, I made my way back to the hotel. I was taking a different route on my return when I came across the same man sitting in a different place. There was no way I was going to pass up this opportunity again. I said hello to him again, but this time pointed to my camera and asked if I could take his portrait. He agreed and I spent the next 5 or so minutes photographing him. It was an incredible experience! I didn’t realize till then that one could connect with a complete stranger without having a conventional conversation. The camera could be a way of “talking” with people. Since then, travel portraiture has quickly become one of my favorite genres of photography.
