Varanasi: The Revisit

[Okayyou]

It's been several months since I posted my DPRK thread which capped the end of my tour through Asia. If you missed it, see it here.

I completed my graduate degree in January and decided to attend the Maha Kumbh Mela festival in Allahabad, India which is held once every 12 years, more on that in my next thread. Before jumping into Allahabad, I stopped over in Varanasi which is just a short 40 km down the Ganges. In May I posted my first thread on Varanasi from when I was there last summer; you can see it here.

My first experience with the city was more exploratory and I was focusing on capturing a broad sense of the city. This time I was more interested in shooting the people and their daily rituals and culture. Part of the Kumbh Mela festival spilled over from Allahabad so there were more colorful characters inhabiting the city than when I was there the first time. There's some male frontal nudity, so if that offends you click here. This will be the first of about a dozen threads that will cover areas in India, Tibet and Myanmar.

Ok, sit back, relax, and let yourself float down the spiritual and soothing water of the Ganges. Just don't get any in your mouth.

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That's it for Varanasi. Next stop, the largest gathering of humanity on the planet - Maha Kumbh Mela.

[mSeattle]

Fascinating! And excellent photography. BTW, what did you get your graduate degree in?

[Danny]

Exceptional photography. Every picture is a piece of art. Thanks for sharing, Okayyou!

Varanasi and the Ganges look very nice. I love your people shots, they´re wonderful. Very spiritual music and very interesting culture and rituals.

Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain.

[diskojoe]

Fantastic.

[Nineties Flava]

100% real A+ photojournalism... you further distinguish yourself with the eye you have.

[Bedhead]

Absolutely stunning.

[Urbanguy]

Fascinating! You're photo skills are amazing!

[dc_denizen]

unreal photos. Amazing!

Would recommend a companion book, 'Death In Varanasi' by Geoff Dwyer to go with these awesome photos.

[Yorkie]

..I have been stimulated and aroused, and I can't wait for more.....Thanx for your unique gift.....Every picture is a story. I love the pic of the goat with the green strip shirt on, along with the boy in the red strip shirt on, in the same shot...Brilliant

[destroycreate]

I'm left speechless. WOW.

[xzmattzx]

Great pictures!

[volguus zildrohar]

Epic and exceptional candid work.

This is golden.

[ColDayMan]

Such exceptional photography for such an exceptional country.

[POLA]

Great shots. Love the one of the circle-of-sleeping-dogs around a fire. May I ask, how did you get around in India? Public Transit, Tour Bus, private car?

[hkskyline]

Stunning.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Excellent portraits and candid people shots, as always. Clicking on an OK thread will undoubtedly yield pics that must be visited more than once. Thank you.

[giovanni sasso]

in order(ish)...

those dreads must hurt.
draw me like one of your french girls.
pass that shit over here.
them colors, though.
whoa.

the best, always. ain't nobody got it like okayyou got it. the music was excellent too.

[ChiTownCity]

This looks like so much fun:



And I love everything about this one:




I just don't understand how you're always in the right places at the right times with the right compositions everytime. Mind-boggling.

[streetscaper]

Incredible!!

[arkitekte]

Like always your composition is amazing. I'm loving the people shots as well.