“We don’t post just monuments, we post life too.” With that slogan, Rufus Reynolds and Dikshit Mundra started a page on Instagram called Streets of India, a year ago, with a vision to provide a space for unrecognised photographers. “There are a lot of photographers who work 9 to 5 and then go around capturing pictures. Our aim is to provide exposure and acknowledgement to such highly-talented, artistic and passionate photographers who lack opportunity,” says Dikshit. Today, the page has around 851 posts, showcasing the monuments and moments of diverse India. Over time, the page has developed a following of 1,50,000 from different countries. “We receive a lot of mail from people abroad that they plan to tour India inspired by the photographs on this page. The page shows us parts of the country that we didn’t know existed,” adds Dikshit.
Rufus and Dikshit conduct photo walks in places such as New Delhi, Udaipur, Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore. Dikshit says, “We post details of the destination and the schedule on the page, and anonymous photographers join us. This way, our community grows, and we make more friends with a common interest.”
The team behind Streets of India also made its mark on Mumbai and took part in IIT Bombay’s tech fest as the ‘official moment freezers’. Twenty photographers were chosen and given professional exposure. A team member, Ankit Dhame, says, “Capturing the streets at the event, which involved 80,000 people, was a dream come true. Every nook and corner of the fest was exciting in its own way, and it kept us on the go.”
About 50 per cent of the pictures on the page are photographed using phones, and the rest using DSLRs. From the picture of a vintage door in rural India and a simple source of light to the Taj Mahal — the page depicts it all. “Our future plans are to build the page in a way that it represents India,” says Dikshit. Rufus adds, “We try to portray the happiest features and the deepest challenges within our nation; all that’s explored and yet to be explored.”
