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Portraits of Women from Rural Maharashtra

Travel often takes me to some of the most rural parts of the country, and the time spent there is always the most memorable. Now that I live in Maharashtra, I travel quite a bit in the rural areas in this state (apart from rural Uttar Pradesh).

So on this warm day I was interviewing a local healthcare worker in a small village near Khanapur (about couple of hours from Pune). She had just come back from the district hospital with the spectacles for the villagers and I decided to interview her as she moved from home to home in many different villages. An eye camp had taken place a few weeks back and some of the villagers had their eyesight tested for the first time ever. Today many of them were going to see clearly after many many years.

indian indian woman old portrait portraiture maharashtra rural
Trying out her new spectacles!

It was usually the elderly that I met and it was great to get them to agree for a picture - a man with long hair is not just odd but also quite alien to them all. But I smiled and though I spoke only broken Marathi, I was welcomed inside homes and even some kitchens for tea.


Eventually I could interview the healthcare worker and also take many interesting portraits. I focused only on the women there as they were all so beautiful and friendly. For me the day ended beautifully :)



indian indian woman old portrait portraiture maharashtra rural
Beautiful colors, beautiful smile...
indian indian woman old portrait portraiture maharashtra rural
A slightly grumpy granny :)
indian indian woman old portrait portraiture maharashtra rural
She was least interested in me :)
indian indian woman old portrait portraiture maharashtra rural
This was the first time she ever wore spectacles!
indian indian woman old portrait portraiture maharashtra rural
Finally, the solemn one...

Comments

  1. Renuka SinghJuly 5, 2015 at 11:14 PM

    Nice portraits! :-) I'm sure it must have been a joy to capture these faces.

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  2. Siddhartha JoshiJuly 6, 2015 at 12:51 PM

    Thank you Renuka! I love clicking women :)

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  3. Yamini Ali MacLeanJuly 6, 2015 at 2:33 PM

    Hari Om
    What a special project - the glasses, then through your 'glass'... YAM xx

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  4. Siddhartha JoshiJuly 6, 2015 at 2:54 PM

    Thanks Yamini :) That's an interesting way to put it...

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  5. shilpa avateJuly 7, 2015 at 2:44 PM

    Loved all those women you captured! And you know, I loved those blue and green walls at the background and the texure if it!

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  6. R Niranjan DasJuly 9, 2015 at 12:16 PM

    Lovely compositions, Sid.

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  7. orvokkiJuly 9, 2015 at 7:06 PM

    Wonderful potrets,
    Have happy day.
    Hugs

    ReplyDelete
  8. TexWisGirlJuly 9, 2015 at 9:39 PM

    i think they are all beautiful. i'm glad most welcomed you. :)

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  9. UnknownJuly 13, 2015 at 9:49 PM

    The subjects are beautiful in their own way. But your compositions are fantastic. The colors, texture and the mood that you've tried to create have come together so well.

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    Replies
    1. Siddhartha JoshiJuly 14, 2015 at 7:29 AM

      Thank you so much for all these fantastic comments :)

      Delete
  10. IndraniJuly 16, 2015 at 8:06 AM

    You get such wonderful opportunity for this. I too do a similar one but my travel opportunities are far less compared to yours. Keep clicking.

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    Replies
    1. Siddhartha JoshiJuly 16, 2015 at 9:18 AM

      I remember you used to do a series on faces from India! I think it was beautiful and you must continue doing it wherever in the world you are...A face from that city :)

      Delete
  11. Filip and KristelJuly 21, 2015 at 1:00 AM

    You can see a lot of live in the pictures.

    Greetings,
    Filip

    ReplyDelete

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