I met Kevin Fidler on a David Ward photo workshop in the Picos de Europa. He is an ex police Detective Inspector turned keen amateur photographer. After the trip we linked up on Facebook. About a year or so ago, he started posting amazing photos he was taking in India.
It wasn’t clear to me if he was there on a holiday or on an organised photo tour. It turned out it was neither, his partner had transferred there for her job. This meant they had plenty of opportunity to travel around. Having seen some of the excellent photographs on his Facebook posts, the thought occurred to me that Kevin’s likable personality and excellent photos would make for a great presentation on one of our club evenings.
I suggested this to him and fortunately Kevin agreed. Initially I asked him to do the presentation via Zoom, because of the travel involved. Aberdeen not being that easy to get to from the middle of England. But he eventually volunteered to do one better and came to Aberdeen to do the talk in person.
His talk was a great success. And that was not just my opinion, see below some of the comments from Visions club members on our Facebook page.
Below a small selection of Kevin’s photographs, captions by the photographer. Kev is here on Facebook and here on Instagram.
Traditional tribal design in henna on bride’s hands. Wedding in Coorg region, Karnataka. Wedding ceremonies in the region, like a lot of its culture are unique and separate from everywhere else. Men and women wear traditional dress though like all Indian occasions there is a profusion of very ornate and beautiful jewellery and of course food.
Rice fields viewed from Anjamadri Temple near Hampi, Karnataka. Reputedly the birthplace of the monkey god, Hanuman. Devotees will climb the rock steps to the top of the hill at dawn to give coconut offerings to the god; below in the valleys around are rice padis with coconut palms and banana fields.
Dawn over Western Ghats between Panjim, Goa and Bangalore. (iphone picture from commercial flight.) A chance sighting on an early morning flight home to Bangalore in the late monsoon.
Early sun for New Year’s Day, Mount Abu, Rajasthan. This is the only hill station town in Rajasthan and is known for its jain connections. Jainism is a branch of the Hindu faith which has prophets as opposed to deity worship and are very strict vegetarians (only plants, fruits etc taken from above the soil).
Between monsoon showers at dawn, Chinese fishing nets on Vembanad lake, Kerela. These nets are lowered with weights into the water at night and then raised the next morning; most people see the famous ones at Fort Kochi further up the coast- the ones here are accessible on the houseboats in the area.
Bakery in Portuguese quarter, Panjim, Goa. Notice the European style bread rolls and oven; a legacy from the Portuguese colony in Goa (independence was only obtained in 1967) and the traditions passed on are still strong in the area.
Novice Buddhist monks practice mantras in courtyard of Tibetan type monastery, Nubra Valley, Ladakh.
All photographs are copyright of the respective photographers. Please contact Visions if you want to use any of the images from our website.
Visions Photography Club 
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