India: Part 7 of 8 - Street photography (#489)

Rick LeCouteur
Jan 1
3 min read

One of my favorite things to do in India is street photography.

Its unlike anywhere else in the world.

Colors that don’t merely decorate the scene but structure it.

Saffron, vermilion, indigo, turmeric, dust, rust, sunlight.

In India, color is not esthetic garnish. It is language. It signals devotion, work, caste, celebration, grief, season, intention.

For a photographer, it is irresistible.

But India is not a place where you simply take photographs. It is a place where you are taught how to look.

India Is Not a Backdrop

The first rule of street photography in India is this: the street is not yours.

People are not props. Poverty is not texture. Devotion is not spectacle. India has been photographed relentlessly, often badly, and often arrogantly.

To work here with integrity requires something quieter than ambition.

India rewards patience more than aggression.

Rule One: Be Seen Before You See

In many places, stealth is prized in street photography.

In India, transparency often works better.

Make eye contact. Smile. Linger. Let people notice you noticing them. You will be surprised how often curiosity replaces suspicion. Sometimes a nod is enough. Sometimes a raised eyebrow becomes consent.

Sometimes the answer is no.

Accept it without resentment.

The photograph you didn’t take matters as much as the one you did.

Rule Two: Let the Street Come to You

India moves constantly. Trying to chase moments usually ends in frustration. Instead, choose a place and wait.

A chai stand. A temple entrance. A train platform. A market corner.

Life will pass through your frame whether you pursue it or not. The best images often happen when you stop moving and let the world arrange itself.

India teaches stillness through excess.

Rule Three: Respect the Sacred

Faith is everywhere in India, and it is lived, not staged. Temples, shrines, rituals, funerals, prayers. These are not performances for visitors.

If you do not understand what you are witnessing, pause. Lower the camera. Watch first.

Photographing devotion demands humility. Sometimes the most ethical decision is to remember the moment rather than capture it.

Rule Four: Children Are Not Currency

Children are endlessly photogenic. They are also endlessly exploited by cameras.

If you photograph children in India, do so with care, distance, and intention. Avoid reinforcing narratives of pity or exoticism.

Never photograph distress as spectacle.

India’s children are not symbols. They are people who will grow up remembering how they were seen.

Rule Five: Humor Opens Doors

India has an extraordinary sense of humor about itself, and about you.

Your confusion, your mistakes, your visible foreignness are often met with amusement rather than hostility.

Laugh at yourself. Acknowledge the absurdity of situations. Humor diffuses tension and builds connection faster than technique ever will.

A shared laugh can create an image that permission never could.

Rule Six: Less Gear, More Awareness

Big lenses create distance. Small cameras invite closeness.

India favors simplicity. One body. One lens. Move lightly. Blend in as much as you can, not by pretending to be invisible, but by not announcing importance.

The more you look like someone watching, not someone extracting, the better your photographs will be.

Rule Seven: Know When to Put the Camera Down

Not everything needs to be photographed.

Some moments are gifts meant only for the person who received them. A look. A gesture. A kindness. A scene too complex, too intimate, too human to flatten into an image.

Street photography is not about accumulation.

It is about discernment.

What India Ultimately Teaches the Photographer

India strips photography back to its ethical core.

It asks: