Chapter 1: Tales of Mumbai Street Photography
Mumbai - 2022
In Chapter 1 of Tales of Mumbai Street Photography, I’ll share a few of my favorite images along with a recent one (above). The purpose of these posts is to act as supplemental material for my Street Photography projects page.
The secondary purpose is to provide a space that’s an alternative to social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I’ve realized that over the years I’ve spent a lot of time uploading individual images and galleries to these platforms and I’ve ultimately been unhappy with either the presentation, the experience, or the simple fact that those outlets don’t belong to me. In fact, a more insidious perspective that I subscribe to is that we the users of these social media empires can only aspire to belong to them, to belong to their algorithms, to their audiences, to their advertisers and to their national security partners. And even if I do take a giant hit for post views because very few people actually visit hyperlinks, I’m willing to go that route for the sake of moderating my own space. I’m quite willing to sacrifice social media traffic, which typically isn’t my target audience anyway, for an audience that is of my own creation: for people who want to see my work and to read what I have to say.
All right, let’s get on with the street photography!
The Dumpster Baby
Mumbai - 2016
A truly WTF moment conflicting with any notion of an "upscale" Bandra.
Contrary to popular sanity, there are times when it's advisable to seek out the worst traffic times and engage in the insanity — if you're a photographer. My Riding Rickshaw project focuses on subjects I photograph while riding as passenger in an auto-rickshaw in Mumbai. The advantages of doing this during rush hour times are tremendous.
You're often traveling a lot slower. For a sane person, this is bad. For a photographer like me, it’s playtime.
There are plenty of subjects.
The drivers will often interact with you out of sheer boredom and curiosity. This makes for some interesting images occasionally.
It's easier when shooting street photography to capture candid images as you approach your subjects.
The benefits list actually goes on. Perhaps, one of the biggest perks is that you will at times get perspectives you wouldn't ordinarily get by walking along the roadsides. In a sense, it's like cage-diving and waiting for a great white shark to turn up; there's no guarantee that it will happen on any given ride, but when it does you feel vindicated for spending two hours in some of the worst traffic in the world. And in reality, Mumbai does have the most congested traffic in the world two years running, according to statistics obtained from GPS reading data sets. This alone makes any keepers I obtain all the more precious.
This shot was taken in 2016 during my Canon DSLR days. I was shooting from a rickshaw while exiting Bandra Reclamation. To this day, this will be known as my dumpster baby shot. I remember sitting at the traffic stop and looking over and seeing this infant just sitting there, with no one else around in sight. Then this guy in the scooter suddenly pulls up, and the two strangers exchange glances. Before I could wrap my head around what was transpiring, the rickshaw took off and I was on the highway, never to discover what happened next. This image will be forever etched in my brain.
The Goregaon Station Boy
Mumbai - 2016
This shot goes all the way back to the first year of my discovery of street photography. I’d been shooting at Goregaon Station, where just over a week prior I had taken the shot which would eventually land me the cover on a magazine and launch my photography career. But I didn't know this at the time. I was only focusing on the interesting characters I'd always see at the railway stations, this boy included. He was with his mother, pictured on the left in the background.
I was attempting to get a candid shot of the boy, who was fiddling around impatiently and trying to keep himself entertained while waiting for his train. After he spotted me, he channeled all his attention my way which doesn't help for candid photography in the slightest. Eventually, he moved up close and I started shooting anyway. As he moved closer, I could hear him mimicking the sound of the shutter with his mouth. He finally took up a posture on the railing and I took a final picture. His mother soon called to him and they vanished into the boarding crowd. One of my favorite "early" portraits!
A Monsoon Shot in Bandra
Mumbai - 2017
This shot was from Day 203 of my #3StrangesAday everyday project from 2017. I'd been walking around with an umbrella in one hand and my old Canon in another, trying unsuccessfully to keep my camera and flash unit dry. This didn't work and I ended up having to repair my DSLR because of the water damage. Such are the hazards of monsoon season!
