Girish Menons’ love for photography already started in school when his teacher would show him photographs of the places that they were studying about in school at the end of every geography lesson. Back then, he tells us, neither did they have access to the Internet nor relevant books that they could refer to. “These photos, that our teacher showed us, were our only windows into the world far and beyond. It certainly got my imagination running wild and got me interested in the world, culture, history and art.”

Girish lives in Mumbai, a metropolis on Indias west coast with a population of 12,5 million. “Mumbai is very cosmopolitan.”, he says. “You can walk through its markets bustling with colour and activity or admire the colonial architecture and its temples, churches, mosques and Buddhist caves and sample food that has evolved from different cultures and participate in its festivals.” For him, there is an interesting photograph waiting to be taken at every street corner in Mumbai. But he also enjoys Rajasthan and Kerala for its street photography.

Besides India he also loves to travel Europe: “I have more fun making photos on the streets of Europe than anywhere else in the world. Europeans love their art and there’s plenty of it on the streets – live street theatre, music, caricature artists and so on. I enjoy hanging out with caricature artists and I always stop to watch live street theatre.”

What is Girish working on next? “I’m working on a series of photographs of India that I can exhibit around the world and I am having a tough time choosing my next destination because there are just so many options. That’s a good thing though. I really want to travel through Europe again.”

We can’t wait to hear more from you, Girish! Take a look at more pictures from him in our gallery.