Bangalore: David Gleave candidly captures the face of modern India

"And so my series, simply titled 'Bangalore', is just that. Another personal project capturing people either candidly, so they're unaware that the shot was taken, or sometimes with the cooperation of the subject."

This approach takes inspiration from the Samuel Coulthurst exhibition at Salford's The Lowry that first encouraged Gleave to take up photography. "Coulthurst's pictures were all taken in the 1890s and were candid shots of people going about their everyday business at the street markets of Ancoats and Salford," he recalls. "As I gazed, transfixed at the people in the photos, I saw that even though they were all long since gone, they were at the same time somehow still alive. Frozen in time for ever by the camera."

But why India? "Because of its people and its colours," he says. "Even though my images are black and white, you can still sense the colours. It's also a country that's been well documented by photographers I admire, such as Steve McCurry.

"This was my first time in India but I will definitely return and spend more time there. It was refreshing to see so many happy smiling faces, and nearly all the people I met were warm and friendly despite the obvious hardships."