women
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Strangers Nos. 98 and 99
Not every “stranger” photo turns out the way you want. Â I thought I was being clever by rewinding this half-used roll of film so that I could enclose it in a lead lined bag to protect it from the airport x-rays, and then just advance it again to where I had left off, but apparently
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Stranger No. 92
This was a very shy lady living in a gypsy (Narikuravar) community in Chennai. I wanted to take her photo but she insisted on being in the group. Only after I had taken a few would she allow me to take one with just her. I didn’t ask her name – getting permission from the
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Stranger No. 81
This is Indrani, who was buying something at this shop on a busy street. Â I wanted to photograph her against this shop, without the shopkeeper necessarily in the background, but sometimes it’s awkward asking people to move. Â So this is what I ended up with.
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Stranger No. 80
Bhatma was hanging around near a coffee shop where a group of us were standing around at the end of a photowalk. She showed my wife some puppies – not sure why. She was extremely animated and laughing. We both snapped a couple of pictures and realized why she was so cheerful. Sweet lady –
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Stranger No. 74
Rajasel was stringing flowers for sale near the entrance of the flower market at Koyambedu. All the guys were asking for photos, and when I asked her she initially refused but eventually agreed to let me take her photo. Â Check out the reflection in the mirror, bottom right!
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Stranger No. 55
Illamalli (spelled phonetically as I heard it) is one of the thousands of (mostly) women who weave flowers into long chains using the fibers of banana leaves. They are sold for about 40 rupees (65 US cents) for a length from the tip of the fingers to the elbow. Indian women commonly wear such flowers
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Stranger No. 26
This is Suramma – stranger number 26. She’s another of the many vendors I spoke with at the fruit and vegetable market in Secunderabad. I got a pretty good photo of her, but my wife got an even better photo, and I’m a little bit jealous:
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Stranger No. 19
We met Suranja at the Kanchi Kamakshi Amman temple in Kanchipuram, also known as the “city of 1000 temples.” She explained that she is a widower, and she makes her money by giving tourists puffed rice to throw in the temple tank and other places outside, which brings blessings and luck – in exchange for
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Strangers Nos. 17 and 18
This is Indriani and Suttimetta. In India, it is a common practice for women to get up early in the morning, sweep and wet the pavement in front of their homes, and then, using rice flour (or chalk), create a design called a kolam. They are generally all different, usually symmetrical, and as far as
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Strangers Nos. 14 and 15
Arais and Veerrappam were sitting exactly as you see them here, as I walked by with my camera, and thought it was the perfect photo. Â It was about 0830 am on a Sunday, and I assume this is their shop they are sitting in front of, getting ready to open. Â We had a brief chat
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Stranger No. 13
If you have been following along up to this point, you may have noticed that so far all of the “strangers” on this site have been male. Part of this project is getting the courage to start a conversation with a stranger on the street and ask to take their picture. For a foreign male