Respect is not technique. It is something you build before the camera comes out.
Every photographer who comes to India asks me the same question: How do I photograph people on the street without them getting angry?
They are asking the wrong question. The right question is: How do I connect with people so genuinely that the camera becomes invisible?
Before you raise the camera — make eye contact. Smile. Find a reason to interact that has nothing to do with photography. Then, when you do raise the camera, you are not a stranger taking something. You are a guest who has been welcomed in.
Shivam Pandey
Born in Varanasi, shaped by Kolkata — Shivam Pandey has spent over a decade reading the streets before the camera comes out. That's the skill he passes on: not technique, but awareness.
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