"Where should we go?" Melissa, my girlfriend, was trying to narrow down what seemed like a mountain of possibilities-places that were worthy of exploration. After a month of repeating that same question a million times, we finally settled on India.
Varanasi, India is an incredible place, a real eye opener and a step back in time. You witness events you may have never imagined, or have ever wanted to see. It's completely unavoidable and totally unpredictable. It's the kind of place that you shouldn't expect anything, but embrace every moment.
Brooklyn-based photographer Joey L has spent years working on an amazing set of portraits titled "Holy Men," which features religious ascetics from around the world.
Joey traveled to India (for the third time) in March 2011 and spent a month creating more photos of wandering monks in Varanasi, the holiest of the seven sacred cities in Hinduism and one of the oldest cities in the world. The subjects are men who have renounced all earthly possessions in their pursuit of spiritual liberation.