Typical Itinerary

Day 1 – December 22nd: Arrive in Varanasi on the 22nd (or earlier). We meet up in the suite of your mentor at 4 pm for an introductory discussion about the evening shoot and tips on how to go about the process of photographing the Ganga Aarti. Head to the river ghats by around five, making photographs of the throngs of people there. Familiarize yourself with the location and vantage points before the ceremony begins. Evening photography of the ceremony followed by discussion of the evening session and a prelude to the next morning’s shoot over dinner at El-cheapo Varanasi Bhojan Bhandar (I’m sure there’s one by that name!); each-one-pay-for-somebody-else; what a great way to grab your dinner for free!

Day 2 – December 23rd: Converge at our designated meet-up point before dawn.  Make images of arriving pilgrims before taking a boat ride (four pax per boat), photographing the river and the worshipers along its banks. Then we’ll have a walk along a section of the ghats before returning to our respective hotels / hole-in-the-wall pads for breakfast. Later, meet up at your mentor’s suite for image-reviews and editing, followed by a presentation on Travel Photography and the Art of  Visual Storytelling. Break for lunch, meet up after that for a walk around the streets of Varanasi. The evening sees us photographing the worship ceremony again; you’ll be more prepared now what with the previous evening’s experience and all the stuff you’ll have learned today. Discussion over dinner regarding lessons learned and experience gleaned.

Day 3 – December 24th: Repeat first sentence from Day 1 above. We’ll spend the morning exploring and photographing the length of the ghats on foot, photographing activities as they unfold there – a very different point-of-view (as you know, I don’t use that term interchangeably with ‘Perspective’!) from the previous day’s shoot from the boat. Break for breakfast by the time the sun gets harsh. Make your way back to your mentor’s suite for more image reviews and editing. Break for lunch, then more editing and reviews until 4 pm.

I then “cry ‘havoc’, and let slip the seers” (with due apologies to old Julius C. You are literally on your own for the evening aarti today; alone as in you receive no tips from me from this moment. Not only do you have to rely on your own instincts, but there’s an additional challenge: I want you to photograph the aarti so that it’s something more than an aarti! Now how on earth do you do that? That’s up to you, but I’ll have slipped in a few pointers before I cry havoc!

Day 4 – December 25th: Your assignments for today are twofold, and stem from two observations of mine. (a) In this day and age , of places there are a glut of photographs, of place there are few. And (b) in an age where everything has been photographed, the only unique thing you can bring to photographing a place is your self. So I’ll cry havoc again, and let loose the seers. Walk the ghats, take a boat ride. Or maybe just sit and observe. Whatever be your choice – your images – no matter how few – should reflect you and your feelings. They should begin to be uniquely You!

Over lunch we discuss your impressions , feelings and learning and discoveries; the image reviews of today are left for once we get back to Mumbai. We end at 4 PM, the workshop’s at a close. But for you it’s a new beginning….