Streets of Delhi, India

India is the country with the greatest opportunity for street photography.  The variety of backgrounds and cultures is unlimited...like a kid in a candy store; who am I to photograph? This type of photography is most challenging considering that one wals pretending not to be there to avoid people noticing.  They know, and not a single time they showed displeasure; not the rule other in all countries.  I was thrown stones in Africa but got the shots, asaulted with a knife in Spain and  bludgeoned by a prostitute with a swinging purse in Amsterdam for taken photos in the red district; I laughed my way out of this one and got my images. 

Traffic is chaotic in the streets but back in the narrow alleys there are mostly motorcycles, and rickshaws taking the places of taxis.  The bike riders are very agile and fast; they pass you by before you realize they are coming but I am sure sometimes they miss, but surprisingly they wear helmets.

 Cars and humans mostly carry the merchandise in narrow alleys.  The man carrying the white bags is supporting a load of 110 pounds on its head.  People are mostly short and skinny, seldom see overweight ones and these are politicians and businessmen.

Delhi is the capital of the small entrepreneurs, walking along the porches one sees shop after shop and one wonders how they can make a profit. It seems that certain streets concentrate in the same merchandise, in this case spices.  Most I never seen or tasted before with exotic odors and colors; you can walk in the shop, stick your hand in a bag and smell and taste; they don’t mind.  But what looks great to the eye may not be pleasant to the palate…of course they have the common ones such as peppers, cinnamon, nutmeg that are fine but for some you need to cultivate for these.  It is all about making money and in the back of the store, the owner is watching the business with eagle eyes next to the image of his deity.

 There are on-the spot clothes makers; you want a silk suit?  They will measure you and four hours later you can come and pick it up for a pittance.  The silkworms work really fast there.  But shoes are a different story.

 Fruits and vegetables are readily available as seen below; the first image shows the men opening the giant peapods.  Strange ones too such as the round green leaves in the second image below. And if you are brave you can eat fresh food from one the floor kitchens; intriguing,

Flowers are extremely popular in India with a great variety but most were familiar.  Some are edible but they are mostly for decoration. Below they are making flower collars and they are made in the spot to order. You choose the combination of flowers you want and priced accordingly.

The utility wiring is wild and most people steal the power but who can figure where those octopus-like bundles of cables...and everyone has a cell phone. The faces are inquisitive but again not a sign of annoyance for being photographed.  And as everywhere in the world, the ubiquitous tourist is present.  In this case, a bored young lady infatuated with her cell phone wishing she was home. She does not realize how lucky she is compared the 99.99% of the population of India.

Delhi is a very old city with multitude of palaces from the times before the Muslim conquest to the colonial administrative complexes built by the British Empire.  It will require multiple blogs to cover all I saw; the Red Palace complex is amazing and will require days to fully understand it.