From
The Sunday Times Travel Magazine
Among the challenges you face as a travel photographer is trying to pronounce
the names of far-flung places when you’re organising shoots there. I’m
half-Indian, and I speak Hindi, but even I found Shravanabelagola, home to
the Mahamastakabisheka Festival, quite a mouthful. It’s where the main
picture was taken (number 1 in the slideshow, see link under
multimedia below).
The festival only happens once every 12 years, so the usually sleepy town goes
a bit wild. I had to fight my way to the top of some steps and stand for
half a day in sweltering heat to get this angle, but my patience was
rewarded – this is the shot that won first prize in the Single Image
category of the 2006 Travel Photographer of the Year Competition.
The Bahubali statue in the picture is one of the world’s tallest monolith
statues, and more than 1,000 years old. People take it in turns to climb to
the top and pour milk, holy water and bright red sandlewood paste over the
head – you can pay up to 10 million rupees (£15,000) for the privilege of
pouring the first bucket. I spent most of the afternoon protecting my camera
from splashes; there are still red spots on it!
Standing among those crowds was nothing compared to the experience of being
chased by what felt like the world’s largest gathering of people. I took the
photo of the naked sadhu (or Hindu holy man, picture 2) at the Maha
Kumbh Mela Festival in Allahabad, India. About 20 million pilgrims had
converged to compete for the honour of first dip in the Ganges. I was in a
line of photographers, running backwards and taking photos. We were stuck in
there for an hour before it was safe to get out, but it’s worth risking a
broken bone to get right up close to the action. War photographer Robert
Capa once said: ‘If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close
enough.’ Long lenses are great for detail, but try using a wide-angle lens
instead and you’ll get a greater sense of drama.
The shot of the Masai tribesmen (picture 3), taken in Kenya, was my
first foray into digital photography. I’ve been reluctant to change from
slide film as there’s a real danger you can spend more hours sitting in
front of a computer than actually taking photographs. For this shot, I used
a slow enough shutter speed to capture the colours in the sky, and set the
flash to illuminate the foreground.
The picture of the hot thermal springs (picture 4) near Rotorua was
taken during my honeymoon last January. We toured New Zealand in a camper
van – all very romantic, but I did sneak my camera into the suitcase (my
wife’s a photographer too, so she’s understanding). For shots like this,
you’ll find the colours will do the work for you – you just need to position
yourself correctly. Again, it’s the colours that make the next image work so
well (picture 5). I was walking down the lanes in Mehrauli, a village
near Delhi, when I spotted the ornamental arch and green door. The boy
peering out of the door made the shot.
On our way back from New Zealand, we squeezed in a visit to Angkor Wat, in
Cambodia, where I took the picture of the monk (picture 6). The
evening light was beautiful, but the place was packed with tourists. As luck
would have it, I slipped down a deserted alley just as the monk walked by.
I’ve asked people to pose for me before but it never works – it always ends
up looking awkward. Some things are better left to chance.
Links
Karoki Lewis
www.karokilewis.com
Travel Photographer of the Year
www.tpoty.com
Interview by Laura Goulden
