I love it when photographers step out of their specialization and I especially love seeing travel photographs from wedding photographers. Some how they are able to translate a sense of dreaminess and surrealism from weddings shots into travel photography. Wedding photographers have a special way of capturing moments and emotions that I sometimes fine missing in travel.

When I discovered Vancouver-based wedding photographer Sachin Khona, I was immediately drawn to Sachin's diverse (and international) body of work. Sachin was kind enough to share his travels to Varanasi - India's mythical and sacred city. Although I've never been to Varanasi, the portraits in Sachin's series make me feel as if I were present with him. In his words:


I've dreamed of going to Varanasi in India for a few years and was lucky to finally make my dream a reality earlier this year in January 2014.

Varanasi is one of the oldest cities in the world and has an energy about it that has to be experienced. For me, it was intense. Life and death and everything in between exist in Varanasi. From the holy waters of the ganges where locals say their morning prayers and bathe, to holy men / Sadhu's lining the ghats of the river bank chanting, to young children playing or working with stray dogs searching for food, and families from over India and around the world bidding farewell to loved ones who have passed and are cremated, their ashes floating down the river.

That is just a glimpse of what happens in Varanasi and I hope some of these images give you that glimpse of what I saw. I used the trip as an opportunity to shoot more on film, something I've only dabbled with previously. It was a great exercise for me in slowing down, connecting with my subjects and shooting with even more purpose.

All the images here were shot with the Mamiya 645 on medium format film (Fuji 400H and Portra 400 & 800) with the 80 1.9 lens. Developed and scanned by the awesome Chris Bodnar at Caribou Film Labs in Toronto Canada.

More images can be found at www.sachinkhona.com
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