Varanasi is magical. I believe this is an obvious statement. I’d say it is beyond magical. Look, in my days of exploring locations to take pictures across the world, I always had Varanasi at top of the list. It had reached levels of a legend, of a myth for me.

So when the time came to select our first destination for our newly established ‘annual photo trip’ it had to be that. It had to be Varanasi. It was meant to be.

So – crazy planning, a few weeks before, find a reasonably priced plane ticket from Geneva, a hotel, contact someone locally to take us to cool places… just for 4 days ! Everyone thought I was nuts, a 20 h plane trip for a 3-4 day visit… well … all I can say is that it was so much more than worth it.

Arriving in Varanasi in April, it was hot. Boiling Hot. Took a taxi from the airport, then a boat to get me to the hotel. So hot. And that smell. That atmosphere. The water in the Ganges. I had read tons about the city, seen gazillion of pictures, but nothing can compare to that real life experience.

Varanasi is one of the most (if not the most sacred city in India) It is the city where Buddha is believed to have founded Buddhism, giving his first sermon there.

It is a place where many people come to spend their last days, before they pass away. With the Ganges being the heart and the soul of the city.

To navigate us through, we were lucky to find Binay, a Varanasi-based local photographer. Knew the place and was so kind, got very close together, met his family at home. Highly recommended if you pass by the city, drop me an email.

The 4 days there went fast. I’d let the pictures talk by themselves, but the magic of Varanasi is simple: it is in the people. So welcoming, so open, so glad to be in the pictures, even with you. I could spend hours and hours by the Ghats, just talking to them and taking photographies. At sunset and sunrise to catch that special light. Ah, almost forgot : we also went to a training pit that Binay knew – really interesting, you can see some B&W shots below!

Leica published our experience in their Swiss blog: https://blog.leica-camera.ch/fr/2018/06/28/immersion-photographique-a-varanasi/

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miguel@miguelec.com