Happy Portraits Of The People You Love By Rob & Lauren

Hey all!

Just a bit of news to throw at you today.

We were interviewed by a cool local TV station called Omni in a segment about South Asian weddings. It will be airing tonight between 8:00 - 9:00 PM on Channel 11 on cable. Since we don’t have  cable here we will likely be checking it out at my parents. Anyone have any ideas of how to get a digital copy of a TV broadcast so we can have it stored?

Once again we were highly honored to see that one of our images is a finalist in the Mostly Lisa photography competition. Head on over and vote for this stunning image we took while in India.

I’ll give you a little back story on the image.

In February Rob and I were in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, India. Varanasi is a very fascinating city in terms of it’s history. It’s located on the banks of the Holy Ganga River (or Ganges). Because of this, it is considered one of the most sacred pilgrimage sites for all Hindus. They believe that to wash onesself in the Ganga will remove all of ones sins. Furthermore, it’s highly desirable to die in Varanasi, as it will release one from the cycle of continual life and death. We heard some fascinating stories of people waiting for 20 years to die in Varanasi. It’s really a very powerful city.

Along the river there are a series of ghats, which are steps leading down to the water. These different ghats have different purposes. Some are bathing ghats, some are cremation ghats. One cannot go to Varanasi without spending time exploring the ghats. As we were walking along them one day, narrowly avoiding water buffaloes and pick-pocketers alike, I saw this guru-ji. It wasn’t the enormous turban covering his incredibly long dreadlocks that stopped me, but his eyes. I stopped Rob and we stood a little ways away from him trying to figure out how to get a shot.

To be quite honest with you we both find it incredibly difficult to ask people for a photo. Since the beginning of our photography career we’ve always been expressly asked to take photos of people. We have no background in news photography so we’re not used to taking shots without being asked to do so. It took me a while to work up the nerve, but eventually I did.

I approached him and held up my camera to signal that I wished to take a photo of him. This clearly happened quite a bit to him, and he responded with a price of 20 rupees (50 cents).

If you’ve ever been to India you’ll very clearly understand what I did next.

I haggled.

I offered 10 rupees. It’s not that I was cheap. I mean, we’re talking about a quarter here. It’s simply the mindset you get into while in India. EVERYTHING is bargained. Your food, your lodging, your transportation. Everything. You never just accept the first price offered to you.

He refused the 10 rupees and stood firm at 20. I hesitated for a moment, simply because of the pride invovled in “getting a deal”. I didn’t want to just pay whatever he asked.

Then I stopped myself and said, this is going to be an amazing shot, and I’m looking at paying 50 cents. So Rob handed over two grimy 10 rupee notes to him.

I stepped forward to take my shots and he looked straight into my lens in way that so few people have the courage to do. So many get scared of the camera, and he just seemed to look straight through it.

I took a rapid series of shots to ensure I had the one I wanted, and we walked away.

Looking back at it, I really wished we had taken the time to take so many more shots with him. But even just stopping and asking someone for a shot was a big step for us, so we were happy at the time.

We always learn so much about ourselves and our art when we shoot, even if we wished it had all gone differently after the fact.

Hope you enjoyed the little back story! I guess it turned out to be longer than I expected :) Rob is actually going through photos from India today (the first time we’ve really looked at them since we returned) so perhaps I’ll share a few more on here.

If you haven’t yet, make sure to check out The Wedding Travelers , the blog we kept as we traveled Vietnam, Thailand and India for three months. The writing may not be that interesting, but trust me, there are some fascinating photos on there!

Love you guys, and don’t forget to go vote for us!

Lauren :)