The VIP Bench
Princess Diana sat here, as did Jacqueline Kennedy. And every year, millions of ordinary Indians take their place on the low marble seat -- known universally as the "VIP Bench" -- to pose in front of the Taj Mahal, the most famous symbol of India's glory.
Every day, people crowd around the bench, waiting for an opening to slip in for a keepsake photo, hurrying in as soon as the previous group stands up.
There are Punjabi Sikhs in colored turbans, parents pinching cheeks of crying toddlers, soldiers on leave, young men in sunglasses trying to look like "Bollywood" movie stars, students on school trips, and generations gathering around family elders dressed in their best suits and saris.
About 150 portrait photographers, accredited by the government, work the grounds of the Taj Mahal, the 17th-century white marble tomb built by the Mogul emperor Shah Jahan for his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
The photographers say they sell 10 to 25 photos a day, charging tourists 50 rupees, or about US $1, for a print. The labs that develop the photos, outside the Taj complex, say they process about 2,500 prints a day -- the vast majority taken at the VIP Bench.
The photographers, some of whom have worked the bench for decades, know the prime poses.
There's "The Pinch" (creating the illusion of pinching the top of the dome), "The Jump" (leaping off the bench), and "The Princess Di" (women -- and men -- lying back on the bench in a seductive, or regal, pose).
There's another unique tradition, whose origins the photographers can't explain: To bring a smile, they shout for their subjects to say "Yesterday" rather than "Cheese."