A young woman sits at a small shop or stall speaking on a mobile phone, with flowers and goods nearby, Varanasi, 2019

Photographic Collection

Everyday Life

People at work, in conversation and attending to the routines of a day. Familiar activities take on the character of the people living them.

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Everyday Life

Each collection brings together photographs through a shared subject. Follow an image into its story, or discover it again through another place or theme.

A seated man in a green turban rests beside an elevated vendor tray on the ghats of Varanasi, 2019 — **Work and Waiting**Work and waiting on the ghats.V-2019-048

Two men cut a boy’s hair in a public space on the ghats of Varanasi, 2019 — **Haircut on the Ghats**Personal care carried out in the shared riverfront environment.V-2019-055

A barefoot boy carrying a small metal container walks across the ghats, captured with motion blur, Varanasi, 2019 — **Boy in Motion**Movement across the riverfront.V-2019-088

A man walks along the ghats carrying a bundled load on his head, Varanasi, 2019 — **Carrying a Load**Labour and movement against the red riverfront wall.V-2019-091

A barber shaves a reclining customer in a narrow outdoor lane in Varanasi, 2019 — **A Shave in the Lane**A close view of personal service in public space.V-2019-093

A man transports heavy metal containers by cargo bicycle in Varanasi, photographed in 2014 — **Work on the Move**Labour and transport are part of the day-to-day street life surrounding the riverfront.V-2014-112

A close shaving scene on the ghats of Varanasi, photographed in 2014 — **A Shave on the Ghats**Personal grooming occurs within the shared public environment of the riverfront.V-2014-667

A man tends a seated woman’s hair on painted steps of the ghats in Varanasi, photographed in 2014 — **Care on the Steps**Everyday care and the strong geometry of the painted steps coexist in one documentary scene.V-2014-512

Work and Care on the Ghats

A cargo bicycle, a shave, a haircut: encounters with people at work and in one another’s care.

A man prays at a shrine through a weathered blue doorway in Varanasi, photographed in 2014

Sacred and Everyday

Prayer, contemplation and everyday activity share the same public landscape.

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Related photographic encounters

Follow this theme through individual encounters in the wider archive.

Laughter at Work

Men and women preparing betel nuts by hand in Hassan, Karnataka, and the laughter of a brief encounter.

Close portrait of an older man in a knitted cap and green sweater at the tea stall.

Chai in Amritsar

A short stop for tea after a visit to the Golden Temple.

A woman and young girl standing outside a yellow doorway.

Invitation Inside — Family

An invitation into a home led to a family portrait that also records the photographer's presence.

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Brian Silver Documentary Archive

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Photographic Collection

Everyday Life

People at work, in conversation and attending to the routines of a day. Familiar activities take on the character of the people living them.

Explore the collection

Everyday Life

Each collection brings together photographs through a shared subject. Follow an image into its story, or discover it again through another place or theme.