Pilgrim at Kumbh Mela festival, Haridwar, India, 1998


This portrait exudes a quiet passion. The young man looks at us, as viewers, with a certainty and conviction, but not hostility. Unlike many documentary photographers, McCurry encounters the subjects of his images on an equal footing. It is not 'a decisive moment', but a shared one.

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This young Pilgrim is a Ram Pujari or a worshipper of Lord Rama. He is a young appretice priest from the Brahmin caste. He prays and recites verses from the holy texts of Ram Charitra Manas, Hanuman Chalisa, and Ramay Ana. The sandalwood paste on his forehead, called Ramanand Tikka, is a mixture of sandalwood, camphor, and saffron, which keeps the head cool. He wears a Rudraksha bead necklace and an orange shawl on which are written the words "Ram Ram".

"Everyone wants to be respected; people want to sense that you're trying to understand their culture."

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