Vineet Vohra’s New Delhi – with a smile

Photos: Vineet Vohra

Text: Katerina Markelova, UNESCO

In his relentless wanderings through the streets of his homeland, Indian photographer Vineet Vohra mischievously captures pictures that are as improbable as they are ephemeral. The vision of this celebrated master of street photography is in fact poles apart from the usual rehashed clichés of the Indian megapolis.

A self-proclaimed adept of serendipity with a gift for finding treasures by chance, Vohra’s lens captures the quirky moments of everyday life – whether it’s a billboard concealing a secret door, a rooster with a man’s head, or a passer-by whose hat blends with the fruits of a market stall. 

These unexpected, joyful encounters, gleaned by chance on street corners, are there for everyone to find, so long as they are paying attention. Vohra’s images offer us a moment of respite, a gentle peek at the simple, the everyday, the banal, sublimated by his mastery of composition and perspective. “The photographer falls in love with a moment. It’s up to him to seize that moment and capture it”, he explains. Vineet Vohra pulls it off perfectly.