Street Photography in India Through a Wedding Photographer’s Lens

I miss India. The explosions of bold colour alongside subtle, pastel textures and hues. The juxtaposition lurking on every corner. The people—friendly, welcoming and warm. The insane city streets and the almost forgotten village walkways.

My good friend Sachin (founder of ARC and fellow 8Street photographer) and I spent two weeks exploring Rishikesh, Jaipur, Haridwar and Pushkar. We stayed off the worn tourist paths and delved into the genuine, lively and oftentimes frantic streets of true India. The people I met were incredible. I tended to invoke a chain of expressions from the locals—surprise, confusion and then a face splitting smile. In the bigger towns and that was followed by a selfie request. ‘Random tall grinning man in Om vest’ must have been trending on Facebook India.

I’m an unabashed quote lover. A favourite being “There is no gene for the human spirit”, the tagline for the much underrated film Gattaca. I saw this in abundance in India. Even with so little, people were doing so much. Thriving communities, families and friendships. For those who love to travel and meet people, make sure you visit India!

My Gear

Everything you see here, with the exception of 3 images, was taken with the Nikon D750 and Nikon 35mm f/1.8 lens. The Fuji XT2 was being tested as a second street camera (very inconspicuous cameras can be very handy). Impressive, I must say. The D750 remains my top choice for street photography though (along with weddings, of course).

What you see here is a small selection, there are another 60 or so images that could have been featured. I’ll be putting these all into a high quality photographic book this summer, stay up to date via my Facebook page for details.

About the author: Ross Harvey is an international award winning destination wedding photographer (covering the UK, Europe and the world). You can find more of his work in his street portfolio, in his wedding portfolio, and on Facebook. This article was also published here.