Portraits from India

Howni. Dwarka. Gujarat

2010-06-11T12:01:00.000+02:00

Howny, a girl leaving school to go home with her sister Vanitha seen there:.
www.flickr.com/photos/clodreno/4318474992/in/set-72157623...

Amara. Orchha. Madhya Pradesh

2010-01-19T18:21:00.000+01:00

Amara, a indian woman doing ther laundry on the banks of the Betwa river in beautiful Orchha.

Shy. Udaipur

2009-04-18T16:53:00.000+02:00

A little Rajasthani girl during a festival in Udaipur.
www.claude-renault.fr

Eyes. Varanasi. Uttar Pradesh

2009-04-03T11:04:00.002+02:00

A Sadhu I met in Varanasi, he had a srtriking pair of light green eyes, a gentleman as well.
www.claude-renault.fr

Benazir. Pondicherry

2008-12-05T09:44:00.003+01:00

Benazir, a little girl living on Rue Moulad in Pondicherry

Porttrait. Ooty. Tamil Nadu

2008-10-03T13:37:00.002+02:00

A man posing for me on the horse racing track in Ooty. He commes here everyday during the race season to bet on horses.

Mamta. Udaipur. Rajasthan

2008-10-02T18:34:00.000+02:00

Mamta, a young Rajasthani begger during a Vishnu festival in Udaipur. For one day, all the poor people from around the city come to beg in the streets.This image is shot at the exit of the beautiful Jagdish temple.

www.claude-renault.fr

Chinnapen. Chidambaram

2008-09-12T09:49:00.001+02:00

Chinnapen can be seen at the entrance of the temple in Chidambaram.
She takes care of the people visiting it.

Sadhu. Varanasi

2008-09-05T14:33:00.001+02:00

Papu. Pushkar. Rajasthan

2008-08-17T16:41:00.003+02:00

Once again I met Papu in Pushkar and she was well.

Poku and Mamounta. Pushkar. Rajasthan

2008-08-16T08:33:00.000+02:00

Poku and Mamounta, two young girls spending their time begging in the streets of Pushkar.
http://www.claude-renault.fr

Hijras. New Delhi

2008-03-18T13:27:00.001+01:00

Hijras having a quick lunch on a sidewalk of New Delhi. They just won a battle in Tamil Nadu, being recognized as a Third sex. They are now able to have "T" ( transexual) added to their documents allowing them to have the same rights as other citizens. Tamil Nadu has the biggest population of Transexual in India, about 100.000 accding to the "times of India".
www.claude-renault.fr

Sur. Jaisalmer. Rajasthan

2007-12-03T12:59:00.000+01:00

Sur, a young woman from Jaisalmer, going back home with her bags on her head.

Chai. Mandawa. Rajasthan

2007-09-19T13:06:00.001+02:00

Wandering through the streets of Mandawa, this woman and a friend of her invited me into their courtyard to have a Tea.

Sunita. Moti Bagh. New Delhi

2007-09-15T10:02:00.001+02:00

Sunita, working in front of her home in a slum of Moti Bagh in New Delhi.
A beautiful girl

Rampal. Pushkar. Rajasthan

2007-09-14T17:36:00.000+02:00

Rampal, A musician from Pushkar lighting his beedi under the tent where he lives outisde Pushkar

Enchie. Near Jodhpur. Rajasthan

2007-09-14T17:35:00.001+02:00

Enchie, A Bishnoi woman in a village south of Jodhpur

Workers. Neemrana. Rajasthan

2007-09-14T17:33:00.001+02:00

A woman working on the renovation of the Neemrana fort.

Meena. Vrindavan. Uttar Pradesh

2007-09-14T17:31:00.003+02:00

Meena, a begger in fornt of the Iskcon Ashram in vrindavan. A few families live uner homemade tgents there to be able to make some money from the pilgrims coming to worship Lord Krishna.
When i asked her for her name she showed me the tattoo on her arm.
http://www.claude-renault.fr

Workers. Neemrana. Rajasthan

2007-09-12T17:10:00.000+02:00

Rajastani women working on the renovation of the Neemrana fort.

Choti Lal. Alwar. Rajasthan

2007-09-12T17:08:00.000+02:00

Choti Lali feeding her cow in a street of Alwar; Rajasthan

Sita. Pushkar. Rajasthan

2007-09-06T14:29:00.000+02:00

Sita, a singer from Pushkar. I met her the first time in 2001. I have since met her a few times.
You can see a few images of her on my blogs. She is Rajuri's aunt.

Sanjata. Jodhpur. Rajasthan

2007-08-29T16:18:00.000+02:00

Sanjata, a girl from Jodhpur. She lives in her blue house at the feet
of the beautiful Mehrangarh Fort lies at the outskirts of Jodhpur city and
is located atop a 125 m high hill. The most beautiful in Rajasthan.

Posing. Nizamudin

2007-08-28T16:53:00.001+02:00

A portrait of a devotee inside Nizamudin Dargah

Sultan. Bikaner

2007-08-26T18:22:00.000+02:00

Sultan, A Rajasthani on the market in Bikaner.
He even sold me the scarf he is wearing.

Moti Bagh. New Delhi

2007-08-26T17:56:00.000+02:00

A woman living in Moti Bagh posing for me in front of her house. My first Delhi impression this trip, thanks to Evren and Sandy, two friends living there.

Nolita. Vrindavan. Uttar Pradesh

2007-08-21T09:35:00.000+02:00

Nolita is a widow from west Bengal living in Vrindavan. Everyday she attend the Sri Bagwan Bhajan Ashram to sing, a way to get free meals.

Papu. Pushkar. Rajasthan

2007-08-20T13:09:00.000+02:00

Papu, smoking a beedi with me in front of her shop in Pushkar...

Rajasthani Girl. Jaisalmer

2007-08-19T15:37:00.001+02:00

A Rajasthani girl on the market in Jaisalmer. She was coming from a remote village of the Thar desert and was a bit afraid of me, hiding in her mother's dress.

Rajuri. Pushkar. Rajasthan

2007-08-09T15:39:00.001+02:00

3 years later, Rajuri is still pretty and still singing in Pushkar. You can see her 3 years ago two pictures beneath

Worker. Gulbarga. Karnataka

2007-06-14T13:08:00.001+02:00

A woman working on the building site of the fortress of Gulbarga. She was carrying stones to the top of the remparts.
www.claude-renault.fr

Rajuri. Pushkar

2007-06-13T08:04:00.001+02:00

Rajuri is from a caste of singer. She usually sings with her father in Pushkar. She is Beautiful.

Worker. Udaipur. Rajasthan

2007-06-12T18:21:00.001+02:00

A working woman in Udaipur can be very feminine. She was doing hard work in the dry lake of Udaipur..
She was working on the sewer system with other women.
The green background being the grass of the the dry lake

Buta. Gaumukh

2007-06-07T10:29:00.001+02:00

The same sadhu shown in the previous image.
In 2004, I met Buta, a sadhu from Ujjain , at the sources of the Ganges..He travelled all the way from Ujjain to Gangotri.
He was sitting quietly on the bank of the Ganges near the glacier you can spot in the background.

another image of him:
www.flickr.com/photos/clodreno/45017309/in/set-875095/

Shy. Varanasi. Uttar Pradesh

2007-05-27T10:11:00.001+02:00

A little girl dressed up in a beautiful sari for the Sarasvati day. She was a bit shy and nervous...During Vasant Panchami, a day for Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge and learning, all the kids are dressed up and don't go to school.

Sarasvati represents the free flow of wisdom and consciousness. She is the mother of the Vedas, and chants to her, called the 'Saraswati Vandana' often begin and end Vedic lessons.
Another image of her going to the school with her mother:
www.flickr.com/photos/clodreno/386961155/in/set-875091/

Smile. Varanasi. Uttar Pradesh

2007-05-27T09:12:00.001+02:00

A portrait of a woman selling flowers and candles for Puja in Varanasi

Widows. Vrindavan. Uttar Pradesh

2007-05-05T16:23:00.000+02:00

Widows staying in an Ashram in Vrindavan, located about 15km away from Mathura, birthplace of Lord Krishna. The widow is praying, with the rosary hidden in a little bag.
It is said that Lord Krishna never leaves Vrindavan.

mathuravrindavan.com/

www.claude-renault.fr

Pilgrim Sri Sailam. Andhra Pradesh

2007-05-05T16:21:00.001+02:00

A Pilgrims having lunch on the side of the road while visiting the temples around Sri Sailam.

Untouchable. Haridwar. Uttaranchal

2007-05-04T11:32:00.000+02:00

This little "untouchable" girl was begging with her mother on the ghats in Haridwar..

Ayappa. Sabarimala. Kerala

2007-05-04T11:28:00.000+02:00

An ayappa at the end of her pilgrimage in Pampa.

Intense Look. Amritsar. Punjab

2007-05-04T11:22:00.000+02:00

A portrait of a Sikh pilgrim shot inside the complex of the Gold Temple in Amritsar

Dance. Mamallapuram. Tamil Nadu

2007-05-04T11:20:00.000+02:00

A young dancer during the Mamallapuram dance festival which take place every year, the first two weeks of January. The Baratha nathyam is one of the oldest form of dancing in India. When you see it one time, you just feel like going back all the time. It's simply beautiful.

A Sadhu. Prayag. Uttar Pradesh

2007-05-03T18:11:00.000+02:00

A Sadhu coming off the Sacred Ganges after having taken his Holy Bath.
Shot during the Ardh Kumbh Mela 2007 in Prayag. Uttar pradesh

The wood cutter's wife. Bijapur. karnataka

2007-04-24T16:39:00.000+02:00

A Sadhu. Varanasi

2007-04-02T16:05:00.000+02:00

A woman sadhu on the ghats in Varanasi. i posted an image where you can also see herbending next to two sadhus..
www.flickr.com/photos/clodreno/382545113/in/set-875091/

Mangal Giri. A sadhu. Prayag

2007-03-26T16:58:00.000+02:00

Mangal Giri, a sadhu, applying his tika on his forehead after having taken his bath in the Sacred ganges during the Ardh Kumbh Mela 2007 in Prayag.

Just curious. Madurai. Tamil Nadu

2007-03-23T16:02:00.001+01:00

While I was invited in a small shop to have a coffee, the owner of the shop next door came to see what was happening..

Beauty. Hampi. Karnataka

2007-03-21T18:21:00.001+01:00

A young girl during a moslem wedding in Hampi

Mustard field. Ramnagar. Uttar Pradesh

2007-03-21T18:19:00.000+01:00

Women working in the fields and making cake out of cowdung in the village of Ramnagar, a mustard field as a colorful background.

Chai shop. Bidar. Karnataka

2007-03-21T18:17:00.000+01:00

Pink beauty. Udaipur. Rajasthan

2007-03-21T18:16:00.000+01:00

Shot in Udaipur while she was working on the sewer system. A beautiful woman.

Saris. Varanasi. Uttar Pradesh

2007-03-19T11:57:00.000+01:00

On the ghats in Varanasi, drying up saris

Babu. Haridwar. Uttaranchal

2007-03-19T11:54:00.000+01:00

Babu Rajakisur from Katchivar. Babu is a sadhu. He was resting in the middle of a group of other sadhus coming to Haridwar from different parts of India, before following up the road to Gangotri and Gaumukh, where the Ganges comes out of the impressive glacier at the foot of the double-peaked Bhaghirati Mountains. Exactly at this point,
the Ganges is known as Bhaghirati River, at 6660 metres.

Baidehi. Varanasi. Uttar Pradesh

2007-03-19T11:51:00.000+01:00

I know it's a simple portrait, not a very good image. But it has a story.
Baidehi is a old woman, people told me, 100 years old. She is a destitute woman from the state of Bihar. She came to Varanasi to die. She is living with other older women inside a house next to the cremation ghats.
A very nice woman, I forgot her name, has set up this place for those women to die peacefully. she was adorable.

A Nagababa. Prayag. Uttar Pradesh

2007-03-16T18:22:00.000+01:00

A Nagababa coming out of the Ganges after his Holy Bath during the Ardh Kumbh Mela in Prayag.

A Sadhu. Prayag. Uttar Pradesh

2007-03-16T18:20:00.000+01:00

Soni. Prayag. Uttar Pradesh

2007-03-15T10:13:00.000+01:00

Soni, the daughter of a woman selling souvenirs near the Nirvani Akhara during the Ardh Khumbh Mela 2007.
She was always at the Akhara, being entertained by Gopal Dal, other sadhus... or me

Working. Hampi. Karnataka

2006-12-16T09:11:00.000+01:00

One of the women working on the ruins of a temple in amazing Hampi. I'll go back there one day and stay a few months.
She was sitting on the granit floor and almost hiding behind the sari of her friend. Such a beautiful woman..

Commando. Kumbakonam. Tamil Nadu

2006-12-16T09:10:00.001+01:00

In front of the Sarangapani temple in Kumbakonam

Ploughing. Bijnor. Uttar Pradesh

2006-12-16T09:08:00.000+01:00

This man was ploughing his field, near Bijnor.
It's a small place called "barrage" because of a dam located there on the river Ganges.
I went to see the river, I discovered a cremating place and farmers.

Encounter in Varanasi. Uttar Pradesh

2006-12-12T17:48:00.001+01:00

A fisherman. Pompoohar. Tamil Nadu

2006-12-12T10:47:00.001+01:00

Portrait of a shop owner. Mysore. Karnataka

2006-12-11T16:44:00.000+01:00

Pink. Mathura. Uttar Pradesh

2006-12-11T16:43:00.001+01:00

This man was praying inside a temple alongside the sacred Yamuna in Mathura.
I ask him to pose for me..

Smile. Murshidabad. West Bengal

2006-12-11T13:57:00.000+01:00

Murshidabad , a nice place, 182 klm north of Kolkata.. The nature is very beautiful there, lush, green..
Across the river Ganges named Baghirati there, I went for a walk in the countryside and met this old
man coming back from the field with his cow.. A sweet face..

Murshidabad, the last capital city of independent Bengal, is situated on the banks of the Ganges river.
Murshidabad has been named after Bengal's Nawab Murshid Kuli Khan. The Nawab shifted the capital
of Bengal to Murshidabad in 1705.

Chai stall. Rishikesh. Uttaranchal

2006-12-11T09:02:00.000+01:00

This woman is the owner of a small "Chai" place in Ram Jhula.
I stopped there for my morning tea..

Spinning. Kailasha. Tamil Nadu

2006-12-11T08:59:00.000+01:00

Tea worker. Coonor. Tamil Nadu

2006-12-11T08:50:00.000+01:00

Bubbleman. Vellore. Tamil Nadu

2006-12-07T19:16:00.000+01:00

Shot during a moslem holiday in Vellore.

Holy cow. Calcutta. West Bengal

2006-11-30T16:30:00.000+01:00

Baby. Barhampur. West Bengal

2006-11-30T16:11:00.000+01:00

A small kid in hiding in his mother's arms at the shop in Barhampur, a town on the Ganges in West Bengal..

Beedis. Pandua. West Bengal

2006-11-30T16:10:00.000+01:00

This image was taken in Pandua, not far from Malda in West Bengal. I had a long walk in a rainy day and crossed a few villages where they were rolling those Beedis. The weather was grey, no light and rain...Still I had a extraordinary day..Thanks to those Indian people I met

In the train Madurai-Tanjore. Tamil Nadu

2006-11-30T16:08:00.000+01:00

Hide and seek. Sabarimala. Kerala

2006-11-30T16:07:00.001+01:00

Portrait during the Puja. Puri. Orissa

2006-11-30T16:06:00.001+01:00

Pandhyan. A saddhu in Madurai. Tamil Nadu

2006-11-30T16:04:00.000+01:00

A saddhu I met around the Meenakshi temple in beautiful Madurai

A farmer. Hampi. Karnataka

2006-11-30T16:02:00.001+01:00

Subramaniam. Pampassar. Karnataka

2006-11-30T16:00:00.000+01:00

Subramaniam, a Saddhu I met and had a Chai with near Pampassar.

Shiva. Mysore. Karnataka

2006-11-30T15:59:00.001+01:00

Students in a Madrasa. Bidar. Karnataka

2006-11-30T15:58:00.001+01:00

Lakshmi. Kanchipuram. Tamil Nadu

2006-11-30T15:56:00.001+01:00

Lakshmi is a pilgrim for Gujarat. She came in pilgrimage in Southern India.
This is shot in the Varadaraja Swami temple as she was cleaning huge pots where the family food was cooked.

Ayappa. Pampa. Kerala

2006-11-30T13:08:00.000+01:00

An Ayappa pilgrim resting a bit before heading back home in Pampa at the end of her pilgrimage

Venkatesh. Chengannur. Kerala

2006-11-30T08:05:00.000+01:00

I met Venkatesh and Masama, his mother (Two Ayappa Pilgrims) in the bus to go to Chengannur in Kerala.
One of the last big city before going to Sabarimala.

Saina and her grand mother. Badami. Karnataka

2006-11-30T08:04:00.001+01:00

Coming back home from the tank where they did the laundry

My daughter. Udaipur

2006-11-30T08:01:00.000+01:00

A woman from Udaipur showing me a picture of her daughter and her husband.

Danuko Lakshmi, a lambadi woman. Andhra Pradesh

2006-11-30T08:00:00.001+01:00

Look. Pushkar. Rajasthan

2006-11-25T08:37:00.000+01:00

A baby in the arms of her mother while they are buying padlocks in a street of Pushkar

Feeding her baby. Tiruvanamalai. Tamil Nadu

2006-11-25T08:36:00.001+01:00

Movie star. Tellichery. Kerala

2006-11-25T08:35:00.001+01:00

Ayappa pilgrim. Tirumalai. Andhra Pradesh

2006-11-25T08:33:00.000+01:00

An Ayappa pilgrim praying in Tirumalai

Ayappas. Tiruchendur. Tamil Nadu

2006-11-24T14:17:00.000+01:00

A father and his daugter sharing their lunch at the entrance of the temple in Tiruchendur, waiting for it to open.
Amazing eyes they had. They were Ayappa pilgrims.

Fatima Tabasu. Hyderabad. Andhra Pradesh

2006-11-24T14:11:00.000+01:00

Sharing a bus with me to go to Golconda.

A Saddhu. Sri Kalahasti. Andhra Pradesh

2006-11-24T14:01:00.000+01:00

A Saddhu who was coming to the temple in Sri Kalahasti, southern Andhra Pradesh.

You can see an image of me shooting this image:

Durgi. Hampi. Karnataka

2006-11-21T15:54:00.000+01:00

Durgi is a sheperdess I met a few days in hampi.
Always coming back home in the evening.
Hampi is a pure jewel, a marvel.

Prabu. Tiruparankundram

2006-11-21T15:53:00.001+01:00

Prabu is a small boy studying in a Brahmin school in the town of
Tiruparankundram, not far from Madurai. He will become a priest.

Shy. Tirumalai. Andhra Pradesh

2006-11-21T15:51:00.000+01:00

Waiting in the line with me to enter the temple in Sri Sailam. I took a picture of her mother first, you can see it below, then I took one of her. She was shy.

Waiting. Tirumalai. Andhra Pradesh

2006-11-21T15:11:00.000+01:00

waiting in line to enter the temple.

A fun moment. Near Udaipur. Rajasthan

2006-11-20T18:00:00.000+01:00

Thinking. Udaipur. Rajasthan

2006-11-20T17:59:00.000+01:00

Boatman. Calcutta. West Bengal

2006-11-20T17:58:00.001+01:00

The Boatman who made me cross the river next to Kali ghat in Calcutta