Shivang Shekhar Singh is a visual storyteller based in Varanasi, India. This week, Shivang put up a guide on Instagram sharing his insights on the use of newspaper in his street photography. The guide is accompanied by a write-up by Varanasi Guru, and reads like this:

A good newspaper is a nation talking to itself.

Banarasis share a small history with newspapers.

The first newspaper of Banaras “Banaras Akhbar” was started in 1845. It was composed using words from three languages Devnagri, Arabic, and Persian making it complex for commoners to read. Later the list was followed by Sudhakar, Martand & Gyan Deepak Etc. But due to the complexity of language, the newspapers weren’t that popular among the people.

Later in 1920, Shri Shiv Prashad Gupta started a pure Hindi newspaper “Aj” to facilitate the Indian struggle for freedom. Aj not just empowered the fighters but also popularised the Hindi literature in Varanasi and among the areas of non‑Hindi readers.

It was once said that if you want to learn Hindi read “Aj” newspaper daily and even today Aj is one of the oldest newspapers being circulated in India.

Today many publications & newspaper agencies operate in Varanasi as newspapers have become an integral part of our morning rituals.

Shivang made a small series of 20 photographs he had taken and titled them accordingly: