Denis Brihat - Upon the Ganges River

Photograph of 1955.

It is in 1955 that Denis Brihat leaves for a trip to India that will last a whole year and where he will discover the north of the country. He puts all his technique, his tricks at the service of the images taken on the moment, so many striking testimonies that reflect the beauty of these places, the sensitivity of its inhabitants. On his return, he organized a very first Parisian exhibition that would arouse the admiration of all, thanks in particular to the innovative quality of the print mastered by Denis.

Photo taken in Uttarkashi, a place of pilgrimage also known as the «Benares» of the Upper Ganges, reached at the time by a trail, where Denis meets this man and his monkey and where this man offers him three mangoes, a profound mark of respect in the Indian tradition.

Denis often says, remembering his stay in India: "you have to put yourself in the skin of people" to be able to have a natural relationship and thus obtain a spontaneous image.