Indian brass bands in The Wire magazine

Some writing and photography I did is just about to be published - or maybe it's out now, I'm not quite sure, but it looks nice and reads well.

Lunar eclipse on the Ganga, Varanasi, December 2011

A night of street portraiture with the 5D Mark II and a 35mm lens...

Jaipur Foot

Jaipur foot is a great charity, based in Rajasthan. In the last 25 years it has fitted more than 400,000 people around the world with prosthetic limbs and treated a total of 1.25 million people in other ways. The Jaipur foot costs less than $40 to produce and is distributed free of charge.

Indian Brass Bands

Members of the Shiv Mohan Band take a break after performing at a Jain procession in Delhi.

In years gone by, I used to write a lot about music. I don't any more. In fact, after a few years off, I thought it pretty unlikely that I would ever do so again.

Over recent months, though, I've become fascinated by the phenomenon of the Indian brass band. They look excellent, sound funny (in both the weird and comical sense of the word) and, thanks to the shaadi (wedding) season, are absolutely everywhere in North India at this time of year.

Just for the sake of it and without much of a plan to do anything with them, I ended up shooting quite a few pictures of bands in both Delhi and Jaipur, and in the process began to learn a lot about how the industry functions. (In addition to my own very basic enquiries, I have to tip my hat to the New Zealand ethnomusicologist Greg Booth, who has done some fascinating and incredibly informative work on this subject.)

After a quick, off the cuff Twitter chat with a friend, some of these shots have ended up being used for a double-page spread in the next issue of The Wire magazine. I've also written a piece to go with them. Feels a bit strange to be doing that kind of work again, but it was really fun and I was always very fond of that publication and the people behind it. Tear sheet up here some time soon, hopefully.

Quick note: Most of my brass band pictures have been made digitally. The one above is the result of an impromptu run-in with the Shiv Mohan Band (whom I'd met a couple of days before), while they were performing at a Jain procession through Chandni Chowk in Delhi. I was on the way to do some work in Khari Baoli and only had film with me, so, rather annoyingly, the sequence of shots it comes from don't fit with the my main edit at all. I like it, though, so I thought I might as well chuck it up here.

Year 2: Ashura in Lucknow

Lucknow, in Uttar Pradesh, is home to one of India's largest and most devout Shia Muslim communities. This year, I visited the city to photograph the Mourning of Muharram and the days leading up to it. Click on images for larger view.

Bara Imambara, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

Worshippers leave taziyeh (models symbolising the tomb of Imam Hussein) at Imambara Shah Najdaf. The taziyeh will be carried to the Taal Katore-ki-Karbala during the Mourning of Muharram procession, held on the 10th day of Ashura.

Children light candles beside an alam outside Imambara Shah Najdaf. The alam (meaning "flag" or "sign" in Arabic) is of special significance to Shia Muslims and represents the standards carried into battle by the prophet Mohammed, Hazrat Ali and Hazrat Abbas ibn Ali.

Many Indian Shia look outside of their home nation for spiritual and political leadership. Here, a chai stall displays images of Ayatollah Khamenei and the late Ayatollah Khomeini from Iran, either side of Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Lebanese Shia movement Hizbollah.

Food is prepared alongside Bara Imambara Road and distributed to worshippers free of charge throughout the 10 days of Ashura.

Devotees carry a large taziyeh to Taal Katore-ki-Karbala on the final day of Ashura.

Ceremonial knives on chains are sold in preparation for the zanjir mattam ritual, performed on the final day of Ashura. This form of self-flagellation is carried out to honour of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein.

Rosewater is traditionally used to salve the wounds of those performing zanjir mattam.

A man washes blood from his hair after beating his head with razor blades during the procession.

Zanjir mattam is only carried out by males, usually beginning at the age of ten or so, but occasionally much earlier.

Members of the procession carry an ornate alam, made of dates, through the streets to Taal Katore-ki-Karbala.

Although relations between Sunni and Shia Muslims are generally cordial in Lucknow, Ashura is often sees tensions rising between the two groups. Accordingly, a large police presence is deployed.

Worshippers gather outside the Taal Katore-ki-Karbala, the final destination of the procession.

Men and women mourn the death of Imam Hussein at an alam inside Taal Katore-ki-Karbala.

In a phenomenon unique to India, many Hindus also attend the Muharram procession.

A devotee grasps an alam and weeps for Imam Hussein inside Taal Katore-ki-Karbala.

The final day of Ashura concludes with a ceremony and sermons delivered in complete darkness inside the Bara Imambara.