Widow, Courtyard of Mosque, Zakat Foundation of India, Old Delhi, India, November, 2008

Just like her counterpart below, this woman is shunned by her society and is placed in a situation of need as a result. She comes to gather her bag of dried goods for the next thirty days, until she needs to return the following month.

This is her second time in front of my camera and in the very same spot, the courtyard of a local mosque. The scene outside of the courtyard is one of madness and extreme difficulty in terms of photography, so we choose a place that allows us to make portraits in peace.

However, as our session extends into the second hour, men start to gather inside the courtyard for prayer. Because of timing issues with the foundation, we still have a dozen women in need of photography. Men begin to complain about the camera and also the presence of women in their midst.

One man especially does so a few times, loudly in fact. He continues to do so and his face is familiar to me, he is a face from last year's photography. So instead of asking my translator to quiet this man down, his picture is found in my bag and handed to him quickly by me.

He quiets down immediately, albeit with a sense of disgust, and walks away.

A few men sitting down for their prayers smile as a result.

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