Sometimes it's helpful to set some images aside and come back to them a while later. In January 2008 I was in India and took a lot of photos that I thought of as "just travel photos" at the time.
In reviewing them now I'm struck by how different they are from my other photography. But I can also see that they should be different. For a "Western" visitor, India is a very "different" place in so many ways. Historically, culturally, religiously -- those are obvious. But less expected is the pace.
As a visitor to India you tend to start out in cities. And those cities are far more dense and vibrant than any Western city I can think of. As Joe said, after being in Mumbai, you go to Manhattan and wonder, "where is everyone?" Just stepping out onto the sidewalk in the morning, the sense of activity is nearly overwhelming at first. Learning to cross the street is an adventure.
So it makes sense that I would end up with a lot of images about motion. Quite a few of them were even taken in motion, from car windows. Obviously we visited quiet and contemplative places in India too. But these pictures of India in motion are what really stands out to me from the trip.
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