Behind the Scenes Video: Adorn Cover shoot with Neha Dhupia

I really enjoyed this shoot. Neha was great to work with and although its a challenge to shoot jewelry and make the model look great, I think we pulled it off.

At one point I stopped using strobes and just shot the modelling light off the softbox, with an 85, 1.2.

The magazine is out in April

check out the Behind the Scenes Video!

The Filthiest Train in India- WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES

    Dear Mamata Banerjee, Rail Minister, India,

    First of all, I want you to know I absolutely love and adore your country. Never in my travels have I met a friendlier, more hospitable people and never in my sojourns have I burned this many taste buds on deliciously spicy Chicken Vindaloo.

     My love affair with India started almost 10 years ago when I, a lone wanderer with nothing but the shirt on my back, arrived for the first time. I remember to this day, the Chennai airport, hustling and bustling, the smells, the touts, the hawkers...I loved it from the get go. The wild chaos that was India was the perfect antidote to my structured western mind.

   It was the first train ride that solidified my passion for your vast and heterogeneous country. I rode from Chennai to Varanasi, a three day voyage on a railway that brought me to new lands and new friends, to new sights and expanded horizons.

   How soundly I slept on my top berth, the clickety clack on the tracks lulling me to carefree dreams like a child's lullaby. From my fond memories of that time I recall the trains being efficiently on time and though while not spotless by any means, clean enough to enjoy the ride....and so it was for nine beautiful months, just me, a backpack and an open heart.

  And now here I am, 10 years later, back in your country. But this time its its different. I'm older and I fear my poor heart has hardened a bit since those carefree days of my early twenties. Gone is the back pack with the yellow walkman, gone is the untrimmed beard and flowing messy long hair; all traded in for expensive camera gear, an iMac, PAN card number,  bank account, Vodafone Bills and demanding clients.

  That's right Mamata, I came back...but this time I came back to make money. And because Time is Money, romantic train rides were substituted for low cost domestic air carriers. Jet Lite to Bangalore, Kingfisher to Calcutta, IndiGo to Jaipur and GoAir to Chennai. I did miss the trains, but what to do??!! The Indian economy is growing by 10 point something percent and XYZ advertising agency isn't going to wait three days for me to arrive by train to Delhi.

  Oh how I missed the trains. Like an old flame that went out too early, I reminisced about lost love. The screech of brakes, the chaiwalla selling his warm libation between stops, the warm smelling of burning sandlewood...

  So, dear Mamata, you can imagine my excitement when I finally had some time off and decided to travel to Rishikesh...by train! My wife, small son and I planned to fly to Delhi from Mumbai and then board a train to Haridwar. I was so excited, I could hardly wait to re-kindle my old love affair. I could almost feel the days of my youth returning...

Almost...

  What followed at Nizamuddin station in Delhi was heart wrenching. Imagine expecting to see your lover after ten years of separation, her youthful, innocent beauty burned in your mind... but instead you're greeted with some haggard old shadow of her former self, her face looking withered as if wracked by some debilitating addiction. Shocking, disappointing...devastating.

Such was the state of this train, Mamata.  The filth, the cockroaches, the uncleaned toilets, the spilled food, the dirty and stained sheets!

I could hardly conceal my horror...where was the train of my past? what had this locomotion become? I was in a panic! Imagine my anxiety at having to convince my wife that this was truly the best way to travel India, her head nodding, confused, as a large rat slid under our feet.

Mamata, I know you are busy, but if you have made it this far, please accept my humble request to have the trains of India cleaned, thoroughly. They are the life blood of the country. People need them. Foreigners use them and then report back to their home countries...is this impression you want to leave?

They say Cleanliness is next to Godliness. With so many Gods here, can at least one of them lead your trains to cleanliness?

thanks for you time,

your ever humble traveller,

Martin

Uncleaned toilets with inadequate soap to wash
your hands make 'holding it' a reality.

Garbage piles up between the cars.

this piece of twine was holding two heavy doors together

I'm pretty sure this tea bag was still usable 

Let's get cookin'

random guy with a gun

service with a smile!

A Top 10 list for manifesting Success

who doesn't love a Top 10 list?!

The below points are all things that I currently 'employ/struggle with' in my climb up the undulating, mountainous, jagged, plateauing and ultimately beautiful journey of a career in photography.

Here we go:


10. Be kind to yourself. It can be a big bad world out there and the last thing you need to do is stand in your own way. Besides, all good things in your life start from a friendship with yourself.

9. Keep your word. As well as keeping it, don't give it out so much.

8. Take care of your physical and mental health. Your body and mind are the primary tools of you soul's expression. You wouldn't believe it but I've met my fair share of overweight, unhealthy photographers who eat fast food, don't exercise but take immaculate care of their photo equipment. Weird.

7. Know your intention. Before you comment or act on anything in life; know your intention behind your words/action. Two identical actions can have very different intentions and very different effects.

6. Speak the truth. Tough one, but if you follow step #7 above, it shouldn't be too hard. Truth carries great power and weight and if you use it wisely you'll garner respect; most importantly for yourself.

5. Commit yourself to life long learning. Education didn't stop for me at university. In fact most of my greatest moments of learning came from outside an institution. Seek out your teachers carefully; they hide in some strange places.

4. Know where you've been. Honor your past and where you've come from. You may not be proud of where you've come from or what you've accomplished but as you learn to love and heal your life, you'll come to see it was all a necessary process.

3. Know where you're going. Visualize, but more importantly try to feel what it's going to be like once you reach your goal. That way, you're living your accomplishments now and not later

2. Sit in Silence everyday. Meditation works for all the points above, creating a space between sensory input and reaction. Its this space that differentiates the enlightened being from the Not. You chose the time and length.

1. Always try to work with people more accomplished and better than you. Surround yourself with Masters and with friends who have the same commitment to their craft as you do. This will aid in your progress.

The Monkey Mind: Fickle, Envious, Reactive. Cute looking, but ultimately the enemy of Inner Peace. Likes nuts.

Outtakes from the Rishikesh 'Descent' Project

Though we're working our asses off trekking through the Himalayan wilderness to shoot for the book, there is always enough time to shoot portraits of the strange, surreal, stoned and all together original characters that inhabit the banks and of the Ganges and beyond.

Click to enlarge and enjoy.

On assignment in Rishikesh, North India

Yogi Vishva and I hanging out in Haridwar during the Shivaratri festival.

I've been up to Rishikesh about 5 times now and I absolutely love this place. Nestled in the foothills of the Himlayas, it's known for its incredible scenery, sacred temples, holy babas and escapist hippies from the West. 

Its also the place where the Beatles hung out and got high enough to write some of their best music. 

As the Ganges winds it way through the holy city, on either bank one can find saddhus mingling with merchants and crippled beggars hitting up the 'fresh off the boat' hot wannabe Yoga teachers in training.

So what brings me here you ask?

One of my great friends, Yogi Vishva, has an ashram up here and we're collaborating on a book project currently titled 'Descent.' Its essentially a fine art/photo documentary project depicting Yoga Asana (postures) integrated with the character, soul and culture of life around the Ganges from Rishikesh to the ancient and holy city of Haridwar. 

I'm not going to say much more but I will say that this project will feature some of my best work.

After a very hectic last few months shooting for big advertising clients as well as editorial for magazines...I'm sure happy to be up here.

stay tuned for more and.....

Hari Om.