50 Street Photos Showcasing The Unexpected Beauty Of Real Life By Gil Kreslavsky

Looks like diagonals and the rule of thirds work. Or perhaps it’s the magical Varanasi morning light?

Using the primary color blue to draw attention to my subjects. Do you use colors to draw attention? Shot in Varanasi

One curious cow posing for the camera.

One is enjoying the moment, the other is full of fear and worry. That same moment is experienced in such a different way.
Aren’t we the same?

I think I haven’t posted photographs from Kolkata for a while.

Scene from a tea house.
Chengdu, Sichuan

The carriers of happiness for children.
You can’t pass unnoticed near these guys.

Walking in the puddles.
Varanasi - Kashi - Banaras

Stories from the street.

“Transient Encounters” captures the brief, often unnoticed interactions between people and their surroundings during smoking breaks.

Happy to have the opportunity to explore Kolkata again and again.

In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, there is a special hour when you can witness the imprint of the window ornament on the church floor. In normal times, the church is full of people, and the effect of that sight disappears among them, but during Covid, that holy place was often empty, with only a few devoted souls.

Happy to be in Varanasi, and while I’m warming up the engines for the upcoming workshop, I want to share some images taken here on previous visits.

Masan Holi.

Landed in Delhi for another winter session in beautiful India. I almost forgot how beautiful the winter light can be and how photogenic New Delhi is.

Kolkata lets you play with color combinations like no other place.

This morning Pre-Shivaratri vibes in Pashupatinsth.
My head is spinning, the smokes are strong.

Shutter Speed - The Key to Controlling Motion One of the most important things I teach my students is how to control motion in a photograph. This can be achieved by understanding how shutter speed affects your image. A fast shutter speed freezes action, while a slow shutter speed introduces blur, which can be used for creative effects. Depending on your vision and the scene you're capturing, you can choose to freeze the moment in sharp detail or introduce blur to convey a sense of movement or abstraction. Recently, I realized I haven't been using this technique as much as I should in my own work. I encourage you to experiment with it; I will do the same!

Light and smoke. One of the best visuals for photography.

A group of nuns on the streets of old Jerusalem.

Low-angle environmental portrait.
Pushkar, Ajmer, Rajasthan

Behind the glass.

The backstage of a Chinese opera feels like stepping into another world. In small, crowded rooms filled with mirrors and the scent of makeup, performers sit quietly, turning themselves into heroes, villains, and legends. Over the years, in different corners of China, Vietnam, and Thailand, I found myself drawn to these spaces. Watching the slow, deliberate transformation, bringing a character to life.

The country DT 🇺🇸 never heard about.
Well, I did.
Lesotho 🇱🇸 - The Kingdom in The Sky.

Moments from Yangon

Varanasi diaries.
Harischandra Ghat.
Goats are also people.

The boss.

When patterns are the same color.

Did you know that you can use a single bold color to grab the viewer's attention?

One of the most fascinating subjects to photograph in India are the Naga sadhus. Their ritual of smoking the chillum makes for a captivating subject in photography. They are often hard to find, but occasionally emerge during big gatherings and visit cities like Varanasi.

The last few days were quite foggy so I found myself shooting a lot of portraits. Something I haven’t done for a while, but perhaps should do more.

Fog is one of the best helpers to layout mystery into the frame.

Love exploring Varanasi. You don’t really need to search for anything. You stop for a few minutes and a story unfolds in front of you.

A short post dedicated to the iconic Kolkata Yellow Taxi.

Around Boudha.

The Buddhist area in Kathmandu.

Playing with mirrors.

When you start your journey in photography, one of the first things you hear is that you should shoot only during the golden hour because there is soft light and hard light, and soft light is better. But the truth is that light comes in many variations—some are suitable for the moment, and some are not.
You can shoot at any time of the day; you just need to understand your limitations at that moment.

Dragons in District 5.
Saigon 2025.

Mumbai patterns.

Kumbharwada Mumbai

A morning prayer in a small temple in West Bengal. The light comes from a small doorway.

Burmese Buddhist nuns, also known as Thilashin, wear pink robes as part of their religious attire. The color signifies their monastic identity and distinguishes them from monks, who typically wear saffron robes. The nuns shave their heads like men and lead lives of simplicity. They also take a set of precepts and live a monastic life similar to bhikkhunis, but without full ordination status.
Interestingly, Thilashin are not considered bhikkhunis (fully ordained female monks), because the bhikkhuni ordination lineage in Theravada Buddhism is believed to have died out centuries ago.
The reestablishment of bhikkhuni ordination has been a topic of debate and controversy within the Theravada tradition.
In Myanmar, the monastic community largely adheres to traditional interpretations, which recognize only monks (bhikkhus) and novice monks (samaneras) as fully ordained.

Amazing Kolkata.

From the streets of Kolkata.

At the market.

Visiting Kumbharwada.

I love working with ambient light.
My 3 favorite shots from this morning. Not sure which one I like best. Which one do you like?

From the workshop scouting trip in Sri Lanka.

You know I’m a big fan of breaking down my work into geometrical forms, and today it’s about circles and oval forms. Although there is a great moment in the photo, I believe that the circles are adding an extra layer of playfulness to the image. Are you using circles in your photography?

Shot on the streets of Kolkata.

Moment from Cairo.

Tales from the river.

Holi in India is an event that you must photograph at least once in your lifetime. It has been several years since I last experienced this beautiful celebration of color, and I feel a strong urge to return. The vibrant hues, joyous faces, and exuberant atmosphere make it a photographer’s paradise.

Fire and smoke are powerful tools in photography. They can transform a photograph, adding dramatic mood to the image. The warm light of flames and the mysterious quality of smoke make images more visually striking and emotionally impactful.

From the workshop in Myanmar. We are still in the process, and there’s barely time to properly look at what we’ve captured, but I can already share some of the photos I liked.

One of the hardest tasks when shooting is to overcome the photographed subject and capture it as part of a scene.
So often, we are overwhelmed by the event or person we’re photographing that we ignore the surroundings. But if we pause for just a few seconds and look at what else is in front of us, we can go beyond the subject and present it as part of a scene.
FOMO is your enemy—keep an eye on yourself while shooting.

From the streets of Phnom Phen.

Story from Negombo.
Boys playing cricket in the mosque grounds.

Tel Aviv, Israel

Another favorite corner in Marrakesh.

Around Marakech Medina wall.