It began, as many Delhi stories do, on the street. A man’s chequered gamcha, a woman sweeping in a bright sari, the eager gaze of a sweetmeat seller; all this everyday choreography of labour became a muse for French-Dutch illustrator and graphic designer Alix Fresson, as she returned to the same lanes, the same faces, the same gestures everyday.
Over the years, these encounters gathered shape and intent, eventually becoming People of Delhi: The Faces Behind the Timeless Trades, a book that pairs Fresson’s illustrations with concise explanations of each profession, unpacking not just what these craftsmen do, but the often-unspoken social roles they play. “Most of the craftsmen and women I met were in Old Delhi, where I often went with my friend and professional guide, Sanju, who has also written the foreword for this book,” Fresson recalls.
Page by page, chai wallahs, barbers, garland makers, street vendors and autorickshaw drivers come into focus. In Fresson’s sketches, a barber is no longer just a groomer, but a confidant and occasional matchmaker. A paan seller becomes an entry point into explaining India’s enduring relationship with betel leaf and lime. Each trade is sketched with affection and curiosity.
The idea took sharper shape after a conversation with art consultant Ashwini Pai Bahadur, who encouraged Fresson to look beyond monuments and towards living traditions. She pointed to the historical Company Mica Paintings, which depicted Indian occupations and trades for European patrons over 200 years ago. “After spending two years illustrating Delhi’s architectural heritage, it felt natural to move toward exploring the city’s intangible heritage—the people and crafts that give it life,” Fresson explains.
As she worked, she noticed how many of the tools, gestures and trades captured in those paintings centuries ago still exist in strikingly similar forms in Delhi today. That continuity shaped the book’s subtitle. “This little book presents a snapshot of these craftspeople and their trades,” she says. “Trades that survived for centuries and are part of the tradition and soul of Delhi.”
When Fresson moved to Delhi in 2022, it was the city’s architecture that first drew her eye. She began painting monuments in watercolour, turning them into postcards that found eager buyers among the expat community. The series eventually grew into Delhi’s Little Book of the Seven Cities, accompanied by poems by Samuel Gebre.
Her path to illustration had been winding. After more than 15 years working in the socio-cultural sector across Europe, she moved to New York in 2010 with her Dutch diplomat husband. There, she pursued a long-held passion, earning a degree in Graphic Design. Children’s books followed, illustrated in soft watercolours, alongside a steady stream of design projects.
But it was India that rearranged her creative compass. In a city constantly racing forward, Fresson’s drawings pause just long enough to remind us who has been carrying it all along.