I thought it odd that this man would re-shoe his horse in the middle of a busy Old Delhi street.
It turns out that used horseshoes are very valuable in Indian culture. Business people buy them for good luck.
The man on the left is waiting for the horseshoe – money in hand.
The Old Delhi markets are a real mix. Inside a city block you can find everything; spices, food, textiles, with a little bit of everything in between.
When it comes to colors and textiles, the Indian culture is all about color.
The Indian culture also loves their marigolds. Street vendors were selling them everywhere – especially near temples.
Did I mention that watching the street vendors and not being able to try any of the foods was torture?
This fellow was making these amazing deep fried, cinnamon, crispy sweet cakes. How do I know? They had them in the hotel at breakfast – a place where we could eat the food.
The Indian spice markets are like the textiles – filled with colors. I had one vendor try to sell me a huge bag of cardamom for a couple dollars – definitely not Tokyo prices.
A wonderful “wander”.
One of my favorite shots in India. We were wandering down the back alleys and I happened to look left. What is behind the door?
Config: Canon 5D Mark III (I love my Canon), Canon 28-300mm f/3.5 USM.
I also posted this shot to 500px. I don’t know why but whenever I post to that site (I do it sporadically) it always feels like I am entering a competition …. the shot did hit ‘popular’.
If there is one photo that I took while in India which “describes” Delhi, this would be my choice.
Modern capabilities (electricity, communications, internet and everything else in between) strewn across the street in chaos. The word I would use is “chaotic”.
How these two guys make heads or tails of the wiring is beyond me?
We spent Christmas Eve afternoon in Old Delhi around the markets. I could have taken 1,000 more photos like these as everywhere you turned a man or woman was performing a feat of strength to get their goods moved from A to B. Config: Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 28-300mm f/3.5 USM.
A few of my favorites. The first is the only in color – flowers presented for sale, draped across a parked motorbike.
In the Old Delhi markets there were lots of people carry their wares. Those markets are truly “human powered”. As we walked and observed, one of the most common modes of good transportation was via the head – with some carry more than others.
There were more than a few executing a tricky head balance.
Many worked as teams – balancing the load.
Look closely at the load in the back (how did they decide who gets to sit and who has to work?)
Some had long loads.
Some had big loads. What is all of that paper for? To feed the infamous India bureaucracy?
A lucky few had something other than their own hands and legs to power their cart.
These shots are from a couple hours in the markets, are a small subset of the shots available and represent the essence of what a trip to India entails. Everywhere you look you see a unique scene.
That is what this shot cost me. Outside Bangla Sahib temple. These guys have a good gig going 🙂 Love the colors (and so did the other tourists)
Behind them this man was sharpening knives by pedaling a converted bicycle. Interesting to watch, on the back streets of Old Delhi.
I could have spent weeks shooting the streets of Delhi and never lost interest.
Michael Weening: a few pictures 