Just before returning home from Bhutan this past March, I made a personal stop in India. Somehow or another I got incredibly lucky as my project with MyBhutan wrapped up just as the famous Holi Festival of Colors had begun.

Now before I share the photo collection that I got from the Holi Festival, I wanted to post a quick collection of images that I shot in-between the festivities while roaming the ancient city streets of Mathura and Vrindavan. I hope you enjoy what I came up with!

Portrait street photography of an old man in the streets of Mathura, India
Portrait street photography of an old man in the streets of Mathura, India
Portrait street photography of an old man in the streets of Mathura, India
Portrait street photography of an old man in the streets of Mathura, India
Portrait street photography of a rickshaw driver walking in the streets of Mathura, India
Portrait-street photography of a rickshaw driver walking in the streets of Mathura, India

While it was honestly somewhat overwhelming at first, I very quickly felt so at home amongst the chaotic hustle & bustle of the city. I spent so much time just wandering through the streets with no specific destination while occasionally stopping to shoot a handful of quick portraits. The people were always kind enough to pause for a moment while I photographed them although I felt like I was happier with the images that I shot candidly.

I also enjoyed photographing the monkeys that roamed the streets. Although they can be slightly aggressive, It was fun blending wildlife photography with street photography while observing how they lived closely amongst humans.

street photography of a monkey climbing a pipe in the streets of Mathura, India
street photography of a monkey climbing a pipe in the streets of Mathura, India

While I ended up spending most of my time shooting your average street photography // portraiture, I slowed down and spent a little bit of time trying to capture the fast pace and chaos of the streets. To do so, I used a slightly longer shutter speed to blur the motion of the background people and vehicles. In hindsight, I wish I spent more time shooting with this style but I know I’ll be back for another go at it once countries begin to reopen and it is safe again to travel.

Street photography is still very new to me but it has quickly become one of my favorite things to photograph. I felt like my time wandering through the streets of Mathura were full of so many amazing and different moments that it was sometimes hard to choose what to point my camera at.

Although it was a relatively short trip, I had an amazing time visiting India. The Holi Festival was incredible and I’m looking forward to sharing that image collection within the next couple weeks or so. Thanks for taking the time to check out this photoseries!

Holi Festival of Colors

My trip to India coincided with the Holi Festival of Colors. Photographing it was one of the most exciting things I had done in a while! I ended up capturing quite a few portraits and even some video footage during the celebrations in Vrindavan and Mathura. I captured the spirit of celebration and unity as locals adorned in vivid hues indulged in joyful revelry. From the intimate portraits revealing the genuine emotions of the participants to the dynamic action scenes pulsating with energy, my photographs paint a vivid picture of this captivating cultural extravaganza. Join me as we delve into the kaleidoscope of emotions and experiences, frozen in time, during this mesmerizing celebration of life and love. Not sure if anyone is actually reading this and it might be incredibly obvious….but I decided to try using chat GPT to add some text on this website because I’m a terrible writer.

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