"The Sewing Machine Shop, Varanasi, India".In April, 2010, I was fortunate to travel to India as part of a photographic tour and workshop led by noted pro photographers Gavin Gough and Matt Brandon. Part of our journey took us through the fascinating town of Varanasi on the banks of the great Ganges River. Although the river and the activities along it were of great interest, there were also some fine photographic opportunities back from the river in the town proper.
This image is one of a series that I took as part of a multimedia project documenting the activities of a family run sewing machine repair shop. Like so many businesses in India, the shop opened directly onto a busy street full of activity both human and mechanized! And as in much of India, the people were welcoming and delighted to photographed as they went about their daily business.
All shots in the series were taken with the Canon 5D Mark 2 mounted with either the 24 to105mm zoom or the 16 to35mm zoom. All shots were taken in available light with ISO ratings as high as 5000 for some of the dimly lit interior shots.
In the soundtrack to the slideshow you can hear the ambient sounds of the shop and the street outside. One of the workshop owner's teenage family members sang a song for us as I scuttled about snapping an assortment of images. I'm told the song is a theme from a Bollywood movie, but even my Indian hosts had difficulty explaining what it was about!
The slideshow presentation, "The Sewing Machine Shop, Varanasi, India" runs for approximately 1 minute.
My thanks to Gavin Gough for his assistance with the sound track and to both he and Matt Brandon for their valuable guidance.