Train Station Portraits

We showed up for our train to Varanasi a few hours ahead of schedule and I spent the time making pictures. The guys who clean the bathrooms of the trains were more than eager to pose. They actually asked me to photograph them as they macked all kinds of poses. One guy even got down into something straight out of a hip-hop music video. Ah, global culture!

Train Cleaner

One of those guys had a great face and was bathed in a mixture of fluorescent and tungsten light. Since he was more than willing, I made a few shots of him on the tracks. Ultimately, I don't know if I like the mixed color-temperature conditions. It seems a bit too distracting. Either that, or it's just not a very compelling photo. Perhaps it's a bit of both.

Generous Man

Making those train worker photos I attracted a fair bit of attention. As a small crowd gathered around me, a bowl of rice appeared from a generous fellow. While I was suspect of the offering's eatability, I couldn't decline such an offer and dug in with my dirty hands. The man later returned with cigarettes which I did decline. He ended up smoking them both. When I took this photo, though you can't see it, he was holding two lit cigarettes. I like this shot, though it's not my normal style. I was jumping up from the tracks, saw him and swung my camera up into his face. I think I took 3 shots in succession. None are really sharp but that's not critical. Maybe I'll do more like that at the next train station.

Take pictures.