#kargil

Driving through Kargil, in Northern Kashmir, India, I notice from a distance the blue veiled woman walking down the main street. I ask my driver to stop the car by the side of the road and I jump off, camera in hand. I approach the blue veiled lady and pointing toward my camera, I ask her in English if I can take her photo, even though I know she doesn’t understand a word of what I am saying. But she gently nods in agreement. I briefly look around me, searching for a place or a backdrop against which I can take her portrait. I find the blue entrance door of a house which strangely has the same hue than the blue of her veil. We move to that door, and I shoot a few frames, first cropping from her waist and slowly moving close to her face. She keeps an intense eye contact, I can see her eyes, close-up and the spark of life behind her weathered face, still presents after a few decades of an intense and violent civil war. I know this is the picture I stopped for. #kashmir #india #kargil #Srinagar #jammu #kodak #kodakfilm #kashmirvalley #ladakh