Young Kashmiri gal-pals embrace for a portrait.
In my travels, I've never felt as comfortable and welcome as when I visit Muslim dominated areas such as Kashmir. Nearly everyone I met in Kashmir was extremely accommodating and helpful including the children who always posed for portraits with never-ending patience. In a flurry of pitter-pattering feet, their own interests were plainly evident the second you signaled that their images were ready to be viewed. Chaos generally ensued.
I bumped into these two cutie-pies frequently on my many visits to the Shah-e-Hamdan mosque in Srinagar. Seems they come every evening with their families to enjoy the last sunlight of the day and yuck it up with their little pals.
A Kashmiri mother and daughter pose for a portrait.
Firstly, I must apologize for the out of focus mother. The photo was taken in an rather dark alleyway and I was already at the technical limits for achieving a non-blurry image. In retrospect, I probably should've upped the ISO to 800 and shot with a smaller aperture but it's tough to nail a rushed shot when two people are perfectly posed and waiting for you to finish diddling with your camera settings.
A Kashmiri girl kisses her younger sister.
In case you're keeping score at home, that is, indeed, the same little friend from the first photo above. By my very unscientific count, it seemed she had approximately 12 siblings, giver or take 6. Then again, Kashmiris often refer to cousins as a brother or sister. However, I still have my suspicions she's part of an incredibly large family of anywhere between 6 to 18 siblings.
This wraps up another weekend of archived photos. Stay tuned for more Antwerp tomorrow!
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