In Photos: The Chaos of Mumbai Captured in Black & White

Glimpses of Mumbai in monochrome, all in an attempt to segregate the moment from the madness.

Mumbai is best photographed in monochrome.

(Photo: Pallavi Prasad)

Mumbai is best photographed in monochrome.

Of course, this is a personal opinion with my limited knowledge of photography, but more often than not, I’ve realised that capturing this city in colour often leads to very busy images. Too much colour, too much movement, too much chaos, and when all this is captured through a mobile device on the go, the eye revolts. At least, mine does. So here’s the conclusion I came to: let’s go back to the basics.

A taxi driver has a pensive moment in a traffic jam. 

I chose black and white (a billion shades of grey) – the classic form of documentation for a city with thousands of frames – all in an attempt to segregate the moment from the madness. Here are a few glimpses.

The iconic Mumbai locals cross each other during peak office hours. 

A minimalistic take on the much photographed Bandra-Worli sealink. 

A makeshift slum uses a movie poster of ‘Sarbjit’ as both cover and support. 

No red lights needed; potholes stop traffic at a crossing in Andheri, Mumbai. 

Women wait for a train outside the designated stop for the Ladies’ compartment. 

A couple shares a quiet moment at the Marine Drive in Mumbai. 

A woman, lost in thought, sits on the floor of a Mumbai local train. 

A snapshot from the iconic and busy Bandra station in the morning. 

People travel to work in the classic Mumbai way – in overloaded trains. 

A moment of camaraderie caught on the streets of the communally polarised city. 

A blind man begs inside a women’s compartment of a Mumbai local at the end of the day. 

A man walks alone on an abandoned platform at the Vile Parle station. 

A man reads the daily news at his favourite spot outside his small home in Andheri. 

A security guard catches a wink on duty in the wee hours of an August morning. 

Children packed to the brim inside an autorickshaw on their way to school. 

A beggar sits in front of a painted wall that asks citizens to be responsible for cleanliness of the city. 

Mumbai’s skyline while crossing the sealink. 

(This video has been reposted from The Quint’s archives to mark World Photography Day.)