If you have been reading my blog for a while you might have noticed I hardly ever post people photos. The reason is street/people photography used to terrify me. Do notice the past tense, things somehow changed when I started photographing the beautiful women of Gujarat. Of course I clicked men too, but they will have to wait!
As soon as we got down at the Bhavana Farm Stay at Little Rann of Kutch, a group of girls caught our attention. They were selling jewelry and they wanted us to buy some!
Shilpa was the cutest and most persuasive of the lot. She wanted me to buy something from her shop immediately. I promised to buy the next day as I was tired. I did buy an earring, as promised.
She was also the part of the same group. She too extracted a promise that I would buy later from her and I did!
I ended up buying an earring from her too! But that was all I could, after that I had to ignore everyone else but they still posed for me!
The women wore such pretty colors, their jewelry was exotic too! I would ask them to show me something like they were wearing and they would just giggle in reply!
I visited three resorts in the Little Rann of Kutch and every resort had a group that sold jewelry outside the resort. I spotted this beauty at the Rann Riders Resort.
There was a cultural program at the Bhavana Farm Stay at night. And while mom and aunts were dancing the little one was sitting by herself acting cranky. I decided to babysit her for a while. I gave her my cell phone and taught her how to browse through the pictures! She didn’t bother her mom after that. In fact, when the dancers took a break, mom and aunt also browsed through the pictures. They asked me if there was any photo of my kids, They were happy to see Chhavi’s photos.
What I started doing at Kutch, I kept up at it in Ahmedabad too. The Mai was feeding the pigeons near Swami Narayan Temple. She told me she comes there daily. I am sure the pigeons know her and wait for her.
Finally I clicked this one on my heritage walk in Ahmedabad. She was sitting next to her heavy iron but work would wait till she was done with the newspaper.
I would credit Bernard for this transformation, where I ended up clicking up so many portraits. He is a photographer from London. He was traveling with a postcard which featured his previous work in Gujarat. He is a pro at clicking people photos. Initially I would stand by him and click pictures. He tried to communicate with everyone he photographed, that when he could not even speak the language! At times I acted as an interpreter for him! And that got me going. Soon I was talking to people and clicking them on my own. I hope I will not lose the confidence, now that I have found it.
In the picture above Bernard was directing at least 50 students on a college trip. The venue was the Sun temple at Modhera near Ahmedabad. He volunteered to click the group photograph and they cheered for him loudly!
PS. I visited Gujarat on an invitation from Gujarat Tourism.
Really pretty ????
Thank you Archana.
Loved loved loved this post! The smiles on those faces are so infectious! I too am a little shy to go to talk to people, but these reflections are so pretty they want me to step out of the comfort zone on my next trip.
I hope you will step out and click people soon! I also took a long time but it totally worth it.
Gujarat is very vibrant and lively. I love the silver jewelry they make & sell.
Lovely shots Mridula.
True Nisha, I bought quite a few earrings in the end! 😀
AWESOME!
Thank you so much.
Beautiful people and lovely photos! I can’t help but compare these to the photos of the women I clicked in Nirona in Kutch – and the sadness or harshness their expressions conveyed.
I have to go to Nirona one day!
Lovely portraits.
Thank you Arun.
Nice… One of the great things about travelling is meeting new and interesting people, and you are so lucky to have met these beautiful people and of course, Bernard
And that on my previous trips I would hardly click any people! 😀
Pretty faces. Very jovial. A toast for your confidence. Cheers 🙂
Thank you Ravish, I have started late, so I want to make up for all the lost time 😀
Such a cheerful post. 🙂
I too try and get involved with people I meet before I take pics.
Indrani and you have been doing it successfully for ages, whereas for me it is a late start!
Very nice pictures 🙂 Indeed beautiful women !!!
Thank you Sneh.
Awesome photos!
I am sure you won’t lose your confidence now since you have captured each of them so well 🙂
Shilpa’s pic is my favorite though! Kind of reminds me of the younger sister from the old classic Masoom movie.
Now that you say it there is a resemblance with the Masoom kid! Thank you so much Arun for your kind wrods 😀
Mujhe to Mahilaaon ki photo kheenchte hue dar lagta hai ki kahin koi gussa n ho jaaye , aap ke saath ye plus point hai . Mahilayein gussa nhi hongi aur males would be happy ki koi mahila blogger unke photo le rahi hain !! great pictures Mridula ji
Yogi iss trip ke pahele kugjhe kisi ki bhi photo kinchte hue daar lagta tha! And thank you for giving me an insight into the men psychology 😀
Gorgeous clicks.. those smiles and captivating eyes can steal any heart 🙂
Thank you so much Prasad, finally I started clicking people!
So beautiful photos. Great post.
Thank you Rupam!
Natural beauties with priceless jewelry…
Lovely photographs, Mridula 🙂
Thank you so much Sindhu. How come you don’t write any new posts these days or am I missing them all?
Beautiful captures Mridula. how vibrant and true beauties!
Thank you Chaitali.
Superb portraits, Mridula..
Thank you Meera.
The faces you have clicked show that India has not changed much over the years 🙁 Not even in Gujarat!
And why should it change even in Gujarat?
This is so so so refreshing. Loved the innocence of the faces.
Thank you Ruby!
Bwhahahaha….I so want to go there now! Lovely Lovely lovely clicks
Such a beautiful collection of photography, Mridula.
Street photography– looks like your already a pro at that, now.
Awesome pictures!!
Nice pics globetrotter! But I wanna know more of your “Rann of Kutch” experience…the places you ate, what you ate, what did u see, where did you go for adventure….
Great smiles, lovely expressions and what color. Loved all the pictures.
Beautifully captured … love their expressions and innocence …