Driving back home that day, I encountered a procession of villagers all wearing their celebratory outfits, holding baskets on their head and carrying leaves. They had rice on their throat and on their third eye. I stopped on the side of the road amazed and observed from afar.

I remembered being crushed between the desire of taking photos of this moment and being so shy about it I knew the procession will pass in front of me and I will not be courageous of seize the moment. The idea of looking like a creep, a voyeur made me feel awkward but I already had the metallic tase of regret on my tongue, the sad feeling of having missed something even when it was still happening in front of my eyes. It was an inner battle, between my monkey voice keeping me in my comfort zone and my growing soul wanting to explore, create and record everything it was seeing around.

I often ask myself where is the limit not cross when taking photos of people in the street. The fear of rejection often stopped me for even asking. The fear of facing anger always stopped me from stealing a portrait.

I told myself I would try my best to learn the custom of each country I visit, try to blend as much as I can as a show of respect and because it’s the best way to observe and learn from locals. The more I traveled and the more I asked myself if by doing so, by being “invisible” and feeling shy, I was not simply missing out good moments and beautiful portraits.

The more I practiced asking if I could take photos of people, the more I was getting out of my comfort zone and the more I could survive rejection. It was actually really rare a person would oppose posing for me and it was a way to connect and talk to someone new, sometimes leading to a new discovery or a good time. Only at one occasion, somebody did get physically aggressive toward me, but that’s a story for another day…

That day, the procession was walking away from me and my monkey voice was very loud, telling me I should not steal portraits of a religious procession.

But then, traveling is growing. And when you grow, you can pat your little monkey voice on the head and say: “thank you for your service but today I’ll listen to my guts”. And my guts was telling me to drive past them and take as many photos I could because sometimes, better ask for forgiveness than for permission.

And so I took photos of these beautiful people, making sure I was making eye contact before each shot, like to ask for their agreement. It probably didn’t look like it but this was an empowering moment for me. It took three minutes for changing my mind, and feeling proud of myself. It was a little step toward self love and acceptance.