A Photo Shoot at the Taj Mahal, India

Dirty Washing in the Yamuna River 

I ventured out at 5am, already close on 40 degrees, the taxi driver dropping a huge smelly fart in the car, reminds you that you are in India.

The sun was already up, and flocks of people where on the go, in an attempt to earn whatever money they can earn to feed their families.

On the banks of the Yamuna River, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, in the shadow of the great Taj Mahal, is the local washer men and women who do the laundry for the community.

Dhobi Ghat or Dhoby Ghaut is a word used in various parts of South Asia. It means a place where the traditional dhobi caste of washer men and women go to wash clothes.

Approaching the river, which was low tide during the summer months, the Dhobi Ghat was already in full swing. Standing knee deep in the water while bashing the bright coloured sarrees were the labourers of the Indian launderette.

The thing that stood out the most is the pollution. Plastic littered the entire riverbank, all the way up to the Taj itself. The water looked unclean and uninviting, especially as the men squat all along the water's edge to take their early morning shit.

I had a vision of taking beautiful, dreamy, river scenes with the Taj Mahal in the background, which inspired me to head out so early to catch any soft light.

Instead, I found myself tiptoeing around human turds and pancakes, and the occasional guy actually making them. Close to gagging, I ventured towards the palace, only to see filth, poverty and plastic.

If you think India is beautiful and magical, travel independently, get on the street, use public transport and use your feet, to see an India that the tour organisations shelter you from. Nothing can prepare you for some of the sites, sounds, smells and people that will confront you and shock your western values to the core.

Once the laundry is washed and bashed in this filthy environment, the young boys lay out the sarees to dry in the sun, on the shit and littered sands, ready to make the women look beautiful again.

Then again, I was wearing the same clothes for 7 days !