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Portrait of an Indian girl in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Kristian Bertel began as an emerging photographer in 2006, and he currently resides in Denmark. Where once he thought himself an aspiring street and urban photographer, Kristian now concentrates his energy in exploring and developing photographic projects whereby he is able to group his artwork thematically, focusing on the photo essay.
Photos from India by Kristian Bertel
India is perhaps the only place in the world where twenty religious streams flow together. If that sounds clichéd, here is a surprising piece of information. About 500 communities of India say they follow two religions at the same time! India has a population of over one billion people, the majority of whom are Hindus.
No wonder then that India is today known all over the world as the 'Land of several Religions'. Ancient India witnessed the birth of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism; but all these cultures and religions intermingled and acted and reacted upon one another in such a manner that though people speak different languages, practice different religions, and observe different social customs, they follow certain common styles of life throughout the country. India therefore shows a deep underlying unity inspite of its great diversities.
Washermen at the Dhobi Ghat in India with lots of troughs full of water are beating and pummelling clothes to remove soiling, above just hundreds of washing lines with clothes hung to dry.
Focusing on the photo essay
Kristian Bertel went to the Mahalaxmi area in Mumbai, where he photographed a great scenery of washermen. This probably has to be one of its kind not only in India but all over the world. Nowhere in the world would one see rows and rows of drying clothes as you would see here. Dhobi's, washermen, pummeling dirty linen on stones is a sight to watch from the bridge above adjacent to Mahalaxmi Station. Kristian's work is focusing on the photo essay, or photographic essay and it is a set or series of photographs that are intended a tell a story or evoke a series of emotions in the viewer. A photo essay will often show pictures in deep emotional stages. Photo essays range from purely photographic works to photographs with captions or small notes to full text essays with a few or many accompanying photographs. Kristian's photo essays are sequential in nature, intended to be viewed in a particular order, or they may consist of non-ordered photographs which may be viewed all at once or in an order chosen by the viewer.
This is one of the many portraits that the photographer has pictured in India.
The importance of detail in photography
Kristian learned the importance of detail in pursuit of a craft long before he photographed his first subject. Early in his working life, he worked as a graphic designer. Later he applied that same critical eye on a much larger scale, when photographing.
Photography with feelings and emotions
Eventually, that eye drifted behind the lense of a camera and he found his calling: photography. He has spent the years since trying always to depict life in a pure and simple - yet sensitive, manner, uncluttered and unstaged. Giving the viewer the feelings and emotions, he experiences while shooting is what he tries to accomplish in each photograph. Kristian's travels have so far taken him to such photographically rich location as India.
Photographing everyday life in India
Since 2008 Kristian Bertel has photographed a wide variety of places in India. He fell in love with Rajasthan, a colorful province in the north west part of India, where golden deserts meet traditional dressed people. Kristian Bertel has recently been represented by National Geographic Creative as a contributing photographer. Joining the National Geographic Image Collection is an honor and his work has appeared on National Geographic as Travel Favorites as well. He is a contributor to National Geographic Creative and National Geographic Your Shot and his photographic passion is to tell stories from the scenes and the people that he has encountered on his journeys. He works as a photographer and he is available for editorial assignments all over Europe, Asia, Africa and in the Middle East. For further information and inquiries please:
Contact the photographer
More photographs from India
If you are interested to see more photos and imagery from India, you can see one of the slideshows, which also appears on the photographer's website.
See the slideshow | press here
