India in Black & White Photos

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A man carries a rope through the alleys of Varanasi, India — A man carries rope in the alleys of Varanasi.

I’ll never forget my first experiences with black and white photography. It takes me back to photography class in high school with Mr. Wallace. I wasn’t very good at photography back then, but I have fond memories of stepping through the revolving doors and into the bright red light of the darkroom.

Hanging around for hours after school, making prints under the enlarger, it was a quiet refuge from the noisy hallways full of students. Fast forward years later and now I’m editing black-and-white photos at home in Adobe Lightroom without the lingering smell of chemicals.

After traveling to India a few times in recent years and spending countless hours editing thousands of my photos, I began noticing that many of them look better in black and white. On the contrary, India is a country that’s full of color. Between the bright clothing, jewelry, spice markets, architecture, and food, it’s one of the most colorful places you can travel to anywhere in the world.

Nevertheless, I wanted to try something different and in my opinion, eliminating the color gave the shots a more timeless quality. I decided to share them in this post, so here are 29 Photos of India in Black and White.

A man doing laundry in the Ganges River in Varanasi, India — Doing laundry in the Ganges River in Varanasi.

A man rows his boat near the Taj Mahal on the Yamuna River in Agra — Misty Taj Mahal morning on the Yamuna River

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A man sits in his auto-rickshaw in Vashist, India — Auto-rickshaw driver in Vashist, India

A Sikh man sits quietly at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India — A man sits quietly admiring the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab.

Black and white portrait of a rickshawala in Kolkata, India — Portrait of a friendly rickshawala in Kolkata.

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Black and white photo of a yak tied to a tree in Manali, India — Yak tied to a tree in Manali, India.

Portrait of a rickshaw man in Calcutta, India — Rickshawala takes a break in Kolkata, India

Two men push a cart through the rain in Kolkata, India — Two men push a cart through the streets of Kolkata in the rain.

A traveling sadhu sits in the sand near the banks of the Ganges River in Varanasi, India — Sadhu sits on the sandy banks of the Ganges in Varanasi.

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Portrait of a Muslim man in black and white. Kolkata, India — Portrait of a man at the New Market in Kolkata.

A black and white portrait of a local man sitting outside of Mahakal Mandir temple in Darjeeling — India is the perfect place to practice your portraiture.

A man carries a basket through the Mallik Ghat flower market in Kolkata, India.

Black and white photo of a Ladakhi man in Leh, India — Ladakhi man in a traditional hat. Leh, Ladakh.

A man carries two containers of milk on a bamboo yoke in Kolkata — A man carries milk through the streets of Kolkata.

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Portrait of a local man near New Market in Calcutta, India — New Market, Kolkata, West Bengal

Local children in Kolkata, India. West Bengal — Kids being kids in Kolkata.

Feeding a monkey a peanut at the monkey temple in Jaipur, India — Here ya go lil buddy…

A schoolgirl stops to buy candy at a local shop in Kalimpong, India — A young girl stops to buy candy at a local shop in Kalimpong.

Black and white photo of Chinese fishnets in Kerala. — Chinese fishnets in Kerala, India.

Black and white portrait of a friendly chaiwala in Calcutta — Portrait of a friendly chaiwala in Kolkata.

A man pulling chai tea at a stand in Kolkata, India. Black and white photos. — Pulling morning tea in the Paddapukur area of Kolkata.

Two women walk together in front of Jama Masjid in Delhi. — Jama Masjid, Delhi.

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A rickshaw driver near the New Market in Kolkata, India — Rickshawala at work near New Market, Kolkata.

A man sits at a newspaper stand with his hands on his face in Darjeeling, India — A newspaper stand in Darjeeling, West Bengal.

A local laborer carries a basket on his head through New Market in Kolkata, India — A man carries a basket through the New Market in Kolkata.

Portrait of an old woman and her family in Kolkata. — Three generations in an old neighborhood of Kolkata.

Two laborers carry baskets through Darjeeling, India — Carrying baskets up the large hills of Darjeeling, India.

Black and white shot of Panna meena ka kund stepwell outside of Jaipur — Panna Meena Ka Kund stepwell outside of Jaipur.

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I hope you enjoyed this set, do you ever shoot pics or edit in black and white? Let me know in the comments…