Disco Lorry
These garishly decorated trucks in Lahore, Pakistan were used to mainly haul marble, but would be laden with any number of burdens as they noisily clambered down the crowded Grand Trunk Road. In a strict Islamic Republic, such transports become an outlet for artistic expression and flare. Armed with hand carved wooden masts, custom paint [...]
Sadhu Sadhu
Both mystic and ascetic, Sadhus renounce a life of visceral and carnal pleasure to pursue the highest levels of Hindu spiritual life. Adhering to an ancient ritual, they must attend and witness their own funeral, dying unto themselves and the State at large. Forsaking their friends and family, they wander as ochre clad ghosts in [...]
Overnight Train to Enlightenment
With so many places highlighted by television and film, you begin to develop mental models of them, and form an ideal experience in your head that represents your fantasies of that place. For India this was certainly the case, and an overnight train was one of those things we felt we had to do. Arriving [...]
Love in the Air, God on the Road Side
We awoke to meet our driver, a man who spoke absolutely no English and had the cold demeanor of an army general, and left towards Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Along the way, we stopped sporadically to photograph a few things, including a lavishly tattooed camel, a trick monkey dyed red, and badly translated [...]
An Older Delhi is a Better Delhi
After our brief but memorable stint in Kashmir, we returned to Delhi to meet up with our friend Chad, arriving from Dallas that night, to continue our journey on from there. We had a hefty dose of Delhi traffic on our way to the hotel, which still shied in comparison to the seething mass of [...]
All Things Kashmir
We arrived in Delhi, greeted by thick heat and humid air, and the peaceful vibe that only a nation full of Hindus could create. We met our fixer JP, who had organized most of this trip for us, and he took us to our hotel. After a hot shower and full meal of local cuisine, [...]
Marooned in Pakistan
This story is a comedy of errors, a day where all that can go wrong did, and an experience that only being an experienced traveller gets you through. A day worth so much trouble and hassle, that only Pakistan could dole out. We arrived in Abu Dhabi from Cairo without incident, and passed the 7 [...]
Trash Dwellers & Sufi Mystics
As we had already organized a guide, and the guide had already organized a rigid itinerary, we were caravaned around a few of the more popular tourist attractions, the Citadel being one of them. As I was busy photographing, and not paying attention to what our guide Lina was saying, I cannot give you much [...]
The Great Egyptian Hustle
After a lifetime of wonder and anticipation, I finally arrived in Egypt. What followed in my short time there was, as is with most places you imagine going to, very different then I expected. Experience varies greatly with the company that you keep, and I always manage to meet someone who shows us something hidden [...]
School’s Out for a Photo Shoot
We awoke at 6 AM to the usual clamor of our kind, but clumsy kitchen boy fumbling with the tin cups and metal utensils on the thin metal table. While laying exhausted in bed, it seems as if he is dumping everything out of a bucket from a considerable height, and then scraping and slamming [...]
Quibla Bandi Boar Hunt
We are now in a small village in a mountainous region near northwestern Pakistan, an area called Quibla Bandi. We have commandeered a house on a hill overlooking a small lake, and the green sprawl of wheat fields and farmsteads below. There is something that is ultimately more peaceful about the countryside, and the sound [...]
Leaving Lahore Behind
After such an eventful day yesterday, and a dead of the night panic stricken dream of intruders in our hotel room, I slept in a bit, and caught up on editing and writing. Being all packed up once again, we left Lahore to get back to Islamabad, where we are meeting our next guide, and [...]
A Terrorist Attack
Today we awoke to news that there had been a terrorist attack less than 3 kilometers from our hotel. We were already going to switch hotels, so as not to be in the same place for too long, but now it was very clear that we needed to change locations. The Sri Lankan cricket team, [...]
Mosquepade
We started a little later today, as the writing and editing backlog kept me up a little later than expected. But good headway was made, and hopefully you shall see the results soon, if not right now. So many photographs to choose from, as Lahore is such an interesting place, and editing becomes a very [...]
Greetings, Ancient Lahore
On our drive into Lahore, we witnessed a complete transformation of the landscape and climate. There were vast green fields of crops and flowers, livestock, and homesteads that exuded serenity as they zipped past our hired car windows. As we approached town, a fruit cart on the side of the road was glowing with vibrancy [...]