HOME TO MORE THAN ONE BILLION, there’s no shortage of people in India. But it’s not the sheer quantity of the people that make for brilliant portraits — it’s the quality and colour and texture of the people. It’s the warmth and open hearts, the willingness to pause their day for a moment and give the gift of an image. As a photographer, India astounded me each day in this regard. Join me on a journey through the many people and colours that make India the vibrant nation it is.

All photos are by the author.

1

Sisters of every colour

Perched on a bench waiting for the morning sun to light up — and change the colours of — the Taj Mahal, these seven sisters and their one brother crossed in front of me.

2

Prayer of every color

Women kneel in a mosque in New Delhi.

3

Blue man

A man sits out front of his home in the blue section of Jodhpur.

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4

Blue woman

A woman bides her time outside a store in rural Hyderabad.

5

Blue Taj

A wife and her husband of more than five decades stand against the Taj Mahal.

6

Blue jacket

Children egg each other on inside the Amber Fort of Jaipur.

7

Blue school

Schoolchildren press in for attention at a school in Hyderabad run by Dalit Freedom Network.

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8

Green bike

A green moped on the streets of Jodhpur with two ladies passing behind in yellow and pink.

9

Green teacher

A teacher in Hyderabad reads aloud to her students.

10

Green beans

A woman in green sells her veggies in a parking lot in Hyderabad.

11

Green fields

A man comes home from working in the fields in rural Hyderabad.

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12

Green woman | Yellow turban

A woman in green sweeps inside the Mehrangarh Fort above Jodhpur; a man in a yellow, green, purple, and red turban sells camels at the Pushkar Camel Fair in Rajasthan, a province known for its elaborate turbans.

13

Yellow girl

A girl in yellow appears in her doorway in Jodhpur.

14

Yellow gaze

A quiet young woman gives me an intense stare at a church in Hyderabad.

15

Yellow Naani

A grandmother in Hyderabad shows me her earrings and a wide smile. Naani is the maternal grandmother, and Dadi is the paternal grandmother in the Hindi language.

16

Orange wise men

Three older men greet the morning sun and take in their daily chaai on the streets of Pushkar.

17

Orange sweeper

A man keeps the floors of the mosque clean of Fatehpur Sikri in Uttar Pradesh.

18

Orange guru | Red market

A holy man in Pushkar receives alms for blessings; a woman in red weighs her peppers in a market in Jaipur.

19

Red peppers

A man in Jaipur sells hot red peppers by the bag or sack full, sorting them by hand for quality.

20

Red prayers

A woman lies prostrate in prayer in a church in Hyderabad.

21

Red cleansing

A woman washes her hands, feet, and face in the waters in front of Fatehpur Sikri mosque.

22

Pink ladies

Three young women roam the streets of Pushkar during the festival, taking in the chaos of it all.

23

Pink pedals | Rainbow sari

A man in Delhi weighs pink pedals for customers who are preparing for Diwali; two women take a break from sweeping a temple in Jodhpur.

24

Pink mama

A mother walks her daughter through the streets of Agra during rush hour.

25

Pink Naani

A grandmother in Jodhpur sits in her doorway, watching the day come to an end.

26

Pink attendant | Purple holy man

A woman attends a parking lot in Delhi in hopes of receiving small change for her work; a holy man in Pushkar offers blessings while leaning against a pale purple wall.

27

Pink Dadi

A grandfather stands in front of his home in rural Hyderabad, welcoming his grandchildren home from school.

28

Pink auntie

A young woman waits outside of her home in Jodhpur for her family to return at the end of a long day.

29

Pink morning

A man draped in pink reads his morning news as the sun rises over Pushkar.