Mumbai In 100 Days, 100 Different Ways

Home to an estimated 19 million people, Mumbai, the city of dreams, has always been a dynamic space. One that has inspired numerous works of art from books and graphic novels to unforgettable songs like Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan and films. It’s also, and this is cited far too often for it be to news anymore, a city of paradoxes. With colonial architecture as well as skyscrapers juxtaposing the vast slums and shanties, the glitz and glamour of Bollywood alongside the humble fishermen sailing across the ocean at dawn—it’s no wonder that the city has been a favourite muse of countless photographers.

As a child, it was this sheer vastness and diversity of Mumbai that fascinated photographer Mehi Shah. “When I was young, I viewed everything as rainbows and sunshine. But now it’s more black and white,” she tells us. “Sometimes I absolutely love everything about the city, but I also hate it at times.” A few months ago, Shah began photographing the many faces of Mumbai as part of a 100 day Instagram project called #100daysofBombaybyMehi. “At the time when I started, I wasn’t satisfied with myself as an artist. I wanted to challenge myself and explore my hometown through my lens,” she says. “There is usually a very stereotypical way that Bombay is shown, you see the crowds and chaos. With my series I want to show that the city can be scenic as well, there is a lot of beauty. You’ll see a lot of the motion of the city in my photographs, people appear as ‘ghosts,’ as I call them. The reality of city life is that people are always moving, they’re always in a rush, coming and going. I wanted to capture the many sides that the city has, from the slums and high rises as well as the water-side views and urban chaos.”

Photographing in both monochrome and “technicolour,” she tells us that her series stands as a metaphor for her relationship with Mumbai. “All my pictures have a very eerie and haunted feel to them, many of them are very empty with no human element. But on the other hand, there are more vibrant and colourful pictures as well that I am going to now be uploading—they depict the love I have for Mumbai.”

We’ve posted below some of our favourite images from the series. Follow Mehi Shah on Instagram, as she continues exploring Mumbai in her #100daysofBombay project.