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Gallery: to market, to market …

January 13, 2026 / 67 Comments

To market, to market

To buy a fat pig.

Home again, home again,

Jiggity jig.

Traditional nursery rhyme

I love to seek out a local market when I travel; you discover so much about a place there. What people like to eat, how they dress, how they interact with each other (and you!) And markets are wonderful for photography. Whether like me you enjoy candid street photography or prefer to ask your subjects to pose, you will almost certainly get some great people images there. And the goods on sale also offer many photo opps. You might want to capture the variety of produce, especially if it varies from what you can find at home. Or you might look for unusual items with curious names.

Even close to home a market will be a great source of photography inspiration. There is always something happening in a market and the scenes will be different every time you visit.

Markets in monochrome

Markets are known to be colourful so it may seem counter-intuitive to capture them in black and white. But street photography in that medium is often more interesting, while the sculptural shapes and textures of some fruit and vegetables, for example, also work well. So for this week’s Monochrome Madness, which I’m happy to be leading, I invite you to share photos of markets you have visited, whether close to home or on your travels. And if you don’t tend to go to markets, or don’t have any near you, why not see what you can do with shops instead? I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Pingbacks don’t usually work on my site so if you’d like to join in please leave a comment below with a link to your post so I can check it out. And to find out more about Monochrome Madness have a look at the information on Leanne’s blog.

As always I’ve used Nik Silver Efex Pro to convert what were originally colour images to black and white. My feature photo was taken in lively Otavalo market in Ecuador, a country where whole roasted pigs are a popular treat, especially during festivals (we were in the country during the Day of the Dead celebrations). I apologise to the vegetarians among you!

PEOPLE

In Otavalo Market, Ecuador

Pan pipe seller in Otavalo Market, Ecuador

In Binh Tay Market, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam

Shopper in the Central Market in Hoi An, Vietnam

The morning market in Luang Prabang, Laos

Shoe repairs in the Central Market, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Selling fried tarantulas in Skun, Cambodia

By the harbour in Helsinki, Finland

Selling incense and incense burners near Salalah, Oman

In the fish market, Muttrah, Muscat, Oman

GOODS FOR SALE

Beans in the market in Salalah, Oman

Sexy tomatoes in Pike Place Market, Seattle, Washington State

Nike rip-offs in a village market near Siem Reap, Cambodia

Fried tarantulas in Skun, Cambodia

Dried chillies in the spice market in Jaipur, India

Spice stall in the Northern Medina, Marrakesh, Morocco

Peppers in the Mercado 20 de Noviembre, Oaxaca, Mexico

Garlic, Trogir, Croatia

Pike Place Fish Market, Seattle, Washington State

Brooms for sale at a roadside market in rural Laos

67 Comments

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