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InspirationPhotography

Bangalore: David Gleave candidly captures the face of modern India

"It's always been about people for me – I very rarely make photos that don't include people," says David Gleave, a Manchester photographer known for his street photography, as well as his rock concert work.

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Via direct submission, all images courtesy of the artist

Via direct submission, all images courtesy of the artist

"And so my series, simply titled 'Bangalore', is just that. Another personal project capturing people either candidly, so they're unaware that the shot was taken, or sometimes with the cooperation of the subject."

This approach takes inspiration from the Samuel Coulthurst exhibition at Salford's The Lowry that first encouraged Gleave to take up photography. "Coulthurst's pictures were all taken in the 1890s and were candid shots of people going about their everyday business at the street markets of Ancoats and Salford," he recalls. "As I gazed, transfixed at the people in the photos, I saw that even though they were all long since gone, they were at the same time somehow still alive. Frozen in time for ever by the camera."

But why India? "Because of its people and its colours," he says. "Even though my images are black and white, you can still sense the colours. It's also a country that's been well documented by photographers I admire, such as Steve McCurry.

"This was my first time in India but I will definitely return and spend more time there. It was refreshing to see so many happy smiling faces, and nearly all the people I met were warm and friendly despite the obvious hardships."

An elderly man reclines against a wall in a black and white portrait, gazing upward with a contemplative expression, from David Gleave's Bangalore series
Two men smile and laugh together in a kitchen, one holding a metal pot above his head in a playful pose
Man in striped shirt looking towards camera in a shop interior, with another person visible in the background
Two women smile at the camera inside a modest home with weathered walls and a metal door in Bangalore
Man in light shirt with hand to face stands beside an electrical meter on a street in Bangalore, with vehicles and buildings behind him
A young child peers out from a barred window of a vehicle in black and white, gazing directly at the camera with a solemn expression
Young man in graphic t-shirt stands in a small restaurant kitchen next to a chef, with signage for Biryani visible on the wall behind them
Two men sit in the back of a truck, one holding a rope, captured in black and white photography by David Gleave in Bangalore
Smiling woman holding a kitten, surrounded by discarded textiles and fabric waste in a black and white photograph
A bearded man wearing a white cap and dark jacket stands in profile inside a shop with vintage advertisements and posters visible on the walls behind him
Two smiling young women sit together against a white wall, one wearing hoop earrings and the other adjusting a beaded headscarf
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