photo journey
INDIA 🇮🇳

India – between rituals, colors, and tropical light

India is intense, touching, and full of life. On this photography tour, we experience a completely different side of India: from the vibrant metropolis of Mumbai to the tropical south of Kerala – featuring centuries-old rituals, living spirituality, small fishing villages, and the quiet life along the backwaters.

Our journey begins in Mumbai, where we dive into the city's life before sunrise. Markets awaken, newspapers are sorted on the streets, flower vendors begin their day, and fishermen go about their work. Later, we discover Dharavi and experience a side of the metropolis of millions that is characterized by craftsmanship, community, and incredible energy.

An extraordinary highlight awaits us in Kannur: the Theyyam ritual. In small temples and villages, we will experience and photograph this centuries-old spiritual tradition, in which elaborately decorated performers embody deities and ancestral spirits. Fire, intense colors, music, movement, and deep religiosity create a visual world that goes far beyond the purely visual. We will spend several days in the region, giving us the opportunity to experience various Theyyam ceremonies by day and deep into the night.

Further south, we encounter another side of Kerala: we experience a traditional temple and elephant festival, photograph classic Indian dance forms, and are even allowed to witness the elaborate preparations and make-up of the dancers at Kalamandalam. In Cochin, fishermen, markets, Chinese fishing nets, and Kathakali lead us even deeper into the cultural diversity of Southern India.

At the end, the journey grows quieter. On a houseboat, we glide through the backwaters of Kerala, past small villages, schools, churches, and scenes of daily life along the water. After the intense colors and rituals of the past few days, space is created here for quieter images and observations.

This journey is more than a photo tour. It is an immersion into spirituality, tradition, and everyday life—with time for observation, genuine encounters, and images that tell stories. It doesn't matter whether you are shooting with a professional camera or a smartphone, or how much experience you bring. More important are curiosity, openness, and the desire to look deeper.

India challenges the senses—and that is precisely where its magic lies.