How beautiful is India? These photos tell you

A Romanian photographer maps beauty across the world
It all began with an impulsive trip. In 2013, Mihaela Noroc quit her job to travel the world. She started a personal photographic project on her journey, The Atlas of Beauty, to capture the beauty of each country through portraits of women. Soon, the project took off on social media and reached millions.
Noroc’s portraits of mostly young women are unspectacular at first glance, but pay attention and the culture and history of the subject’s geography make quiet appearances in the frame. From the streets of NYC and the Minangkabau ethnic group in Indonesia to a Kichwa tribeswoman in the Amazon jungles and a girl riding a unicycle in Bogota, she has covered 40 countries, capturing native women in their natural surroundings. “Every day, we see an atlas of wars, conflicts and fear. People are fighting just because they have a different religion, culture, or race,” says Noroc. “I think our world needs an Atlas of Beauty to show that diversity is something beautiful, not a reason for conflict.”
Two months ago, the Romanian photographer landed in India and has visited cities like Varanasi, Delhi, Jodhpur, Pushkar, Amritsar, Mumbai, Nashik and Goa. “This is the longest time I have spent in a country for the project,” the 30-year-old said, admitting that she is nowhere close to covering the diversity of India.
Her India series features a gamut of subjects — from a policewoman in Pushkar to a pilgrim in Varanasi, a Rajasthani street vendor in Goa to a make-up artist in Surat. “Maybe in 50 years, all women across the world will dress and act the same. I hope my project will remain a witness of my era’s cultures and traditions,” says Noroc.

A pilgrim in Varanasi