Photo of the Month: May

Varanasi | India | 2010

During the religious festival of Makar Sankranti, which takes place during winter in January, many beggars populate the stone steps of Assi Ghat in Varanasi, leading down to the holy river Ganges. These beggars are often chased off by the police, who relentlessly beat them with their bamboo sticks. The woman in the picture arrived with her fellow villagers from a ‘cobra neighbourhood’ (home of traditional snake charmers) on the outskirts of Varanasi proper. I spent a few mornings chatting with them and asked if I could portray them, to which none of them objected. Moreover, they never asked for money, even though they came to the city to beg. The only favour they asked were some beedis (traditional cigarettes) from the local chai valah (tea vendor). I published an article about Makar Sankranti and will soon publish a gallery with more portraits taken on Assi Ghat.

This entry was posted on woensdag, mei 26th, 2010 at 08:49. It is filed under India, Photo of The Month and tagged with Assi Ghat, beggar, begging, festival, India, Makar Sankranti, Mirjam Letsch, portrait, Varanasi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.