Morning Portraits from the Village ~ Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India

Woman and Boy
Kohl-darkened eyes shine out of murky, back-lit interiors; even the low light can’t hide the brilliant colours of mum’s turquoise sari.

Old Man at Daybreak
Mornings in the desert are cold – the village residents are well wrapped-up when we arrive for our visit.

A Room in the House
The rooms indoors are simple but colourful, with richly decorated fabrics in true Indian style.

Ancient Millet
One of the oldest grains cultivated by man, millet (“basra” or बाजरी) is a Kharif – or monsoon – crop, grown and harvested during the rainy season.

Old Man in the Courtyard
Rural Indians – especially in the desert – work hard. But, they have also mastered the ability to sit with a stillness that – even during meditation – I struggle to achieve!

Young Woman and Child
The young children are shy; their elders have no trouble making clear, direct, eye contact.

Woman in Orange

Hennaed Hands
When asked (through sign language: I speak no Hindi, and English drops off long before one reaches these villages), the self-possessed woman in the orange sweater was happy to show off her henna decorations. As far as I could find out, there had been a local wedding recently. Autumn (post harvest) is a big time for the long, loud, and extravagant wedding celebrations in Rajasthan.

Family Group
It is still early-morning, but the Autumn sun is starting to burn off the night chill and is casting sharp shadows.

Woman and Child

Man at the Well
Water, a precious commodity in the desert, has to be carried by bucket from the village well.

Smiles from the Woman in Orange

Woman in Green with Child
Back inside one of the houses, a grandmother shows off her toddler.

Young Woman in a Doorway

Three Faces in the Doorway
People in India, whatever their ages, seem to just drape themselves photogenically in windows and doorways.

Eyes Everywhere!
Of course the risk when travelling with a group, is that as soon as you have worked up to the shot you want, other people with cameras walks over, and the subjects’ eyes go everywhere.

Child in the Kitchen
Meanwhile, one of the young children has decided it is past his breakfast time.

Man Child and Wife
Numerous studies have looked at the place of females in Indian society, and they say that it is the ‘most dangerous [place] in which to be a girl’.

Father and his Girl
While I’m sure that this is true, it is also true that everywhere I’ve been in Northern India, I’ve seen (and photographed) proud dads with their daughters.

Shrine in the Fields
Whatever religion local people practice, their practice of it is an integral part of their daily lives.

Man in a Moustache
It there anything more Indian than a man in a moustache? This man was our driver – his English was rudimentary, …

Medicinal Plant
… and all he could tell me about this plant growing at the village boundary, was that it was medicinal.

Man in Red Turban
When it is time for us to go, the village elders say their goodbyes …

Woman in Yellow Sari
… and the women go back to work.