One of the things I love most about photographing India is the vivid colours you see everywhere. Nowhere could this be more true than in Goa, as you can see for yourself in my recent post Goa, an unexpected journey. From the ladies’ sarees to the brightly painted houses and temples and the lush green scenery, Goa is full of colour.
So it may seem strange to photograph Indian people in black and white, yet to me it seems that it is only when you strip away the colour that you really see the person being photographed. The colours are simply too distracting.
Portraits from Goa
Above and below: Ladies selling offerings outside Hindu temples. I bought a floral garland from each of them before asking if I could take a few photos.
Above: Two lovely little girls that I met outside a Hindu temple.
Below: The little boy with them, while happy for me to take his photograph, did seem rather bemused. They all enjoyed seeing their photos afterwards as children, and quite often adults do, in most places around the world.
Below: I love this lady’s coy grin. She seemed a little shy at first when I asked her if I could take her picture but was eager to see it and others I had taken in the market in Panaji (Panjim).
Below: From this ladies dress and elaborate jewellery I would guess she is not from Goa but from somewhere further north like Rajasthan. I bought a bracelet from her stall at the Saturday Night Market in Arpora just so I could take her picture. I’m rather glad I did as I’ve worn it most days since. And this is one of my favourite photos from the trip.
FriFotos on Twitter
This week’s #FriFotos theme on Twitter is ‘black and white’ and I’ll be sharing these and other images throughout the day. If you have any black and white images you’d like to share simply add them to a tweet with the hash tag #FriFotos. If you’d like to see what is being shared then search for the hashtag anytime tomorrow.
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My wife is driving me crazy to visit India so looks like 2017 will be the year
I really like black and white portraiture – and these are excellent photos Kat.
I do love black and white photography, particularly when it comes to capturing details in portraits. But for me personally, I think with somewhere like India I’d be wanting to retain all those wonderfully bright vivid colours. Distracting, yes… but they are, in part, what make India the place that it is. It’d certainly be interesting to see the colour equivalents of these same pictures to be able to compare…
I loved your idea of B&W to avoid the distraction that comes from the vivid colors. Their faces look beautiful and so peaceful.
Stunning – stripping away the colourful clothing really makes you look at the person. A picture tells a thousand words
Lovely, you did a great job. I love the textures and patterns, definitely intense in a color format.
I imagine Goa to be very colorful, but sometimes that actually looks great in B&W. There’s something peaceful about these images…
Love these back and white shots, actually our last post was also with black & white photography! It brings out so much better the details!
Thanks. Your Patagonia landscape shots are stunning in black and white. Such fabulous scenery!
Such amazing faces, and yes I believe that the black and white is a good decision in this instance. Although one side of me would be curious to see the colour versions.
They all have interesting looks, characters, lines or expressions – I particularly like the coy grin lady, who was shy beforehand…she looks like a bit of a cheeky monkey to me. :)…even if a little shy
Doesn’t she! It would have been nice to get to know her a little better.