India.
The people. The colors. The food. The smells. The noise. The raw, in-your-face glimpse into an alluring culture that couldn’t be more polar opposite from Western society. There’s very good reason why the adjective ‘Incredible’ has been ascribed to this country.
At the beginning of January, I embarked on an epic 45 day long motorcycle journey across the northern region of India that included Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab. To say I was nervous to ride a motorcycle in India is an incredible understatement. I’ve read the stories from motorcycle forums, but nothing could prepare me for what I experienced. I’ve been riding motorcycles since I was a kid, and have been riding on the road as an adult for over 10 years. Riding a motorbike in India, well, this was a completely different animal. To give you an idea of what it was like for me, think of riding a motorbike in India like the movie Mad Max… there are no road rules, everyman for himself, and you better always be on your guard. You can imagine how much this could stress someone out, and how tired I was at the end of each day from the constant worry that I was going to wreck. At the end of the trip, I can proudly say I did not wreck once. The only snafu that I managed to experience was a monkey that tore into my motorcycle seat at the top of a mountain.
But, enough about motorcycles.
I want to share with you my photographs from this once in a lifetime opportunity.
I want you to go slow here. I mean, really slow. For just a little while, I want you to escape the mindset of Western culture that is always go, go, go. Grab some coffee and relax. Don’t let your phone distract you, turn it off or put it face down. Take your time. Don’t fly through these images like a marathon. Viewing all of these images is going to take some time out of your day, but I hope that you find this investment of your time to be worth it. To get a glimpse into a culture so unfamiliar to you. I want these images to invoke a feeling or perhaps many feelings inside of you, whether it’s awe, excitement, wonder, anger, compassion, empathy, sadness, or gratitude. Honestly, I wish I could see your actual reaction and experience your feelings in person, rather than via text through a computer screen. Because that’s what it means to be human, to have feelings and emotions and share that experience with others. That’s why I got into photography in the first place; it stirred my emotions and made me feel something. It made me want to connect with humans, with nature, with my surroundings.
My hope as a photographer is that these images will inspire you to see the beauty in the world outside of your own familiar surroundings. I hope that you’ll want to travel to India and experience this incredible country as I did. If you feel inclined, I hope you would share this post with friends and family. If you would like to order any prints from this collection, please reach out to me at kyle.hale@gmail.com.
This is the first installment of my India photographs. I hope to show another installment in the not too distant future.
All of these images were edited with VSCO Film. This company is doing incredible things for the photography industry and I highly recommend checking them out for editing photos.
And as the old saying goes in India,
Namaste.
