There’s something about Indian men above the age of fifty. Their features seem to lend themselves to being photographed. When they have beards, they are twice as photogenic, and when they crack a smile, it’s twice as radiant as that of a man half their age. One of my favorite aspects of the British colonial residue (or perhaps the Indian custom rubbed off on the Brits!)  is the extravagant facial hair exhibited by many Indian men of a certain age – Keralites with enormous mustaches are not as common as in Tamil Nadu, but when they do it, they do it with class.

Smashin’ mustaches aren’t a prerequisite to good portraits though! Sometimes it’s the man’s expression, or his bearing, or the way his glasses frame his face, or the way the light reflects off of him.

Fortunately, there is no shortage ofolder men in the markets of Kerala. Merchants and shoppers alike represent a significant [what I like to call “face-base”], although a huge number of people seem to not actually have any meaningful or significant purpose at the market, and hang around in empty stalls watching passersby.  Naturally, these people welcome any disturbance in the (to them) monotonous market procession, and if that disturbance wields a camera all the better. Although sometimes they just seem surprised – they don’t actually realize how interesting they look.

And sometimes, it’s interesting to see that these people have no reaction whatsoever – whether they’re so jaded that they don’t care, or freeze up with an irrationally extreme fear of the camera (“maybe if I play dead he’ll go away!), I’ll never know. But they always seem to loosen up after it’s over.