Rishikesh In Black and White

This photo essay documents life in Rishikesh, India. I spent six weeks in Rishikesh, a North Indian town bifurcated by the Ganges, studying yoga and soaking up the culture.

View of the east bank of the Laxman Jhula (bridge). This area is touristy and brimming with cafes, guest houses, yoga studios, and ashrams.

I chose to do a series in monochrome series because frankly I felt overwhelmed by the color in India; i.e., the decisions that come with shooting in color. During my month-long foray into Europe this past November, I shot extensively in color, employing techniques such as HDR and HDR-panorma (comprising of dozens of images), which were new to me and skills that I wanted to add to my skill set for their commercial value. The aforementioned techniques are time consuming and require more time spent at the computer post-processing images. Additionally, images created with HDR or panoramic stitching admit an easy "wow" factor that is, in my opinion, are too often used as a tool by photographers to eschew compelling composition and subject matter in favor glossy simulacrumic images.

In Europe, I felt myself beginning to walk this path leading to precipitous edge of an under-creative technological abyss and decided that I needed to sojourn back to the basics by “limiting" myself to monochrome. Doing so, I discovered that I am a more focused, in the moment, photographer when shooting in monochrome. With color photography, especially HDR and panoramic images, it sometimes feels as though each click of the shutter creates a technological prolegomena. Monochrome on the other hand enables me to feel in the moment — to focus on composition and geometry. Hence, I discovered that shooting in monochrome was well-harmonized counterpoint to my study of yoga — a way to extend my cultivation of mindfulness into my photography practice.

Rham Jhula (Rham Bridge) commercial district.

Pedestrians, motorized vehicles, street vendors, and cows, vie for room in Rishikesh's narrow streets.

The intoxicatingly sweet chai tea prepared by street vendors is popular among locals and travelers alike.

Cricket match at the Ved Niketan Ashram. I stayed at the Ved Niketan for three weeks.

A woman worshiping before a statue of Hanuman at the Parmath Niketan Ghat.

The man standing second from the left asked if I could take a picture with the girl behind him. I believe she is his daughter. During my time in Rishikesh I was asked numerous times to pose for photos with Indian tourists. It felt odd for me especially since I'm usually on the other side of the camera. (So this is what I put people through!) After I took a picture with the girl, I asked if I could take a portrait of her since she was really quite beautiful. The father (?) wasn't comfortable with my proposition and suggested that I take a group photo instead.

Worker at a construction site in front of the Ved Niketan Ashram. The municipality is building a new bridge across the Ganges.

Baba on the Rocks

A sādhu is a Hindu ascetic commonly called baba (meaning elder such as father, grandfather or uncle) or “baba-ji” (with a suffix for added endearment) by common people. They are essentially homeless and usually nomadic. Becoming a sādhu involves a guru deciding that a sisya (the person desiring to become a sādhu) ready to take sannyasa, the life state of renunciation in which a person — usually after family life — renounces worldly and materialistic pursuits and dedicate their lives to the attainment of freedom from saṃsāra, the cycle of death and rebirth, by attaining enlightenment. Sadhus are considered dead unto themselves and are legally dead to the state of India. Most live off of the charitable contributions of lay people.

Bathing Babas

Babas bathe in the near-freezing Ganges daily as part of their ascetic routine.

Happy Baba

Baba Drying Clothes

Boy drying off after taking a dip in the Ganges.

I encountered this girl on a ghat -- steps that lead to a holy river such as the Ghanges -- by Rham Jhula( the Rham bridge). I photographed her as she approached me to try sell me an Aarti plate (an oblation traditionally released into the Ganges). I am entranced by how the scar on her forehead matches the break on the concrete ghat.

The girl in the previous photograph and her friend -- also an Aarti plate saleswoman. Children are often tasked with the job of selling Aarti plates to tourists. They wonder the ghats -- steps leading down to the Ganges -- with trays of Aarti plates, which Hindus release as oblations in the Ganges.

Girl on motobike.

Cow in an unofficial dump. Cows play an important role in the ecology. They will eat almost anything organic and even paper.

Cow feeding at an official dump overspilling into the street.

Any trash that cannot be fed to the cows is burned.

A cow in Rishikesh's Tapovan neighborhood. While many of the cows wondered freely in the streets, this one was domesticated and kept in a cow shed within the residential neighborhood. Some believe that cow urine has medicinal properties and can cure afflictions ranging from cancer to baldness.

Cow keeping warm by street fire. Street fires can be seen every few blocks and serve the dual purpose of providing warmth and burning trash.

The southern plains gray langur (Semnopithecus dussumieri) is the most widely found species of langur in India. It natural habitat is typically rural and forested areas but some troops dwell in the cities.

Rishikesh has a surfeit of dogs -- most of them strays. They are very mange but cute, and all very friendly. The dogs are well looked after by the locals.

This is not a sketch but an in-camera multiple exposure that I created by taking several photographs of steel beams at a construction site and then photographing my best friend at my Ashram.

This 21-year old lives in a tent on the banks of the Ganges. He is a yogi and, from what I could understand from his limited English, aspires to become a Sandhu. I photographed him near his abode.

A couple navigating their way across the rocky banks of the Gangers by Laxman Jhula, one of the two main bridges uniting neighborhoods of Rishikesh. Many Indians believe that the Ganges has healing powers.

I encountered this boy while hiking while hiking high in the mountains just north of Rishikesh. He navigated the winding mountain paths, balancing a bundle of firewood on his head, and wearing flip-flops. The reservoir channel upon which he is standing is the only route to his home. At his bequest, I followed him to his family's abode.