Thought I'd return to posting with some older B&W shots from Varanasi, India. Hope you like them.
Some words on Varanasi:
Varanasi is in a very special city. One of, if not THE oldest continuously inhabited place on the planet, it feels frozen in time, different than any other place you will ever visit.
It's a very unfriendly city and it's a big challenge to walk its alleys and get to know the place.
Still, it's a strangely magnetic place, I've visited India 3 times, and on all trips I had to visit Varanasi and spend a few days. Being there is a unique experience, I can only compare it with taking drugs, and not necessarily having a good trip.
Of course Varanasi is an extremely well photographed place. Visit any bookstore in the world and you're guranteed to find an album or two about this hellhole.
For dedicated photographers, unlike me, Varanasi is an ultimate photographic destination.
For me, taking pictures in this place was not a priority. I've always felt that putting a camera between you and the world around you, distances you from it quite a bit.
Being in Varanasi I just wanted to walk around the city with minimal gear, minimal money, minimal things to do. I've shot less than 10 rolls of film there and have only scanned a handful of frames, because nothing seems to capture the real feeling.
Here are some of those frames in no particular order, just some I like.
All of them are from my second trip, in 2009, shot with my Zeiss ZM and the Sonnar C 50/1,5 lens.
