Lens and the City

This made him realise the unpredictable magic of the city’s chaos. This also encouraged him to work on a project called “Into the Crowd”. For this,smaller details became his subjects,and crowds and the city,their backgrounds. A series of 19 images by Sippy,on display at Good Earth,Lower Parel,till March 27,delve into a different kind of street photography,where he goes “from macro to micro” observing the city in its details. The show is a part of the FOCUS Photography Festival.

Another show that dwells on the city’s streets is Kaushal Parikh’s “Bombay Bylines” that capture life in the city’s alleys,waterfronts and bazaars. It is on at Blue Frog,Lower Parel,till March 31.

Apart from these,a number of photography shows that celebrate Mumbai are on at various art and cultural centres of south Mumbai,in sync with the festival’s theme of “The City”. Mumbai,with its historic remnants,old world charm and display of contrasts have been a haven for photographers. In “A Fantastic Legacy: Early Bombay Photography,From 1840 to 1900”,at Galerie Max Mueller,some 100 of the earliest photographs of Bombay are showcased. They capture early shots of the harbour and Elephanta Caves,among other locations. A guided tour by curator Susan Hapgood will take place on March 25.

Shahid Datawala’s choice of subject,however,is far removed from the conventional themes such as streets,people and landmarks. Instead,he was drawn to the ruins of the city’s unfinished building projects. The show,titled “Shadowboxing”,at the Cheval Bar and Restaurant till March 27,has 12 such images. “My show talks about the schizophrenic side of Mumbai’s architecture,” says Datawala. When he photographed the series in 2008,he travelled to a number of unfinished housing projects across Chembur,Breach Candy,Dadar,Colaba and others. Exploration of decay — industry spaces — in Mumbai continues through a photography competition,“Urban Remnants Recaptured” that Café Zoe is hosting as homage to the industrial mill heritage of its venue. An essential element of photographing a city lies in capturing its symbols of change. They may appear in the form of construction sites,or the crumbling B-grade cinema halls of south Mumbai. The latter is captured in “Certified B”,an ongoing exhibition at Filter,Kala Ghoda. Photographed by Prasad Naik and Manish Mansinh and curated by Ajoy Advani,the show,designed like a mini pop-up studio,invites its visitors to pose “sleazily” and win free photo prints of their pictures. “Apart from it being all fun with its colourful kitschy posters,we also wanted people to be aware that these theatres are dying and will disappear in few years,” says Naik. Among the city’s various prominent aspects,the most striking is its architecture that inadvertently features in the works of photographers.

Raghu Rai has an explanation to photographers’ obsession with Mumbai. “Artists respond to the environment around them. Mumbai is a crazy city,overflowing with mad energy and a lot of contrasts. Even while landing in a plane,the sight of the city is mind-boggling. Its colonial history sets it apart from most of the other Indian cities. It is easier to photograph in Mumbai,because they let professional people just be,” says Rai,who has extensively photographed the city.