Gateway of India and Taj Mahal Hotel from the hotel’s tower, 1970
MUMBAI
For Raghu Rai, Mumbai has been like a mini- New York – the business hub of an over-crowded nation; a cultural melting pot overflowing with job-seekers, dreamers and dynamic businessmen with a high level of energy almost always palpable in a city wrought with social, cultural, religious and political tensions; and a metropolis that, like Kolkata, had been photographed extensively since the 1850s by some of the finest photographers in the world.
The tragic 26/11 attack on Mumbai brought the historic city to the forefront of every Indian’s attention. As a befitting tribute to the city, Raghu Rai decided to put together a personal record of how it has spread its wings, tentacles and roots in every direction over the last few decades.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, 2010
An acrobat performing on the maidan near Chowparty
Poised on a footboard, a ride along the seafront
A Parsi restaurant
Writer Shobhaa De at her home, 2000
Enjoying home-grown-merry-go-rounds on Marine Drive
Late evening outside, The Taj Mahal Hotel and Gateway of India, 2006
Reflection on a hotel window at Marine Drive, 2002
Actor Kareena Kapoor getting ready for Priyadarshan’s film, Hulchul
Spellbound by the scale and craftsmen-ship of the sculptures
Church Gate Station, 1995
Sahar slums, Santa Cruz Airport, 2004
A view of the airport from Dharavi slums, 2004
Participants of a vintage car rally at Kalaghoda
Washing hung up to dry in Fishermen’s colony
Building the flyover at Mahim
Homeward bound at Dadabhai Naoroji Road, 2004
Crowds at Chowparty Beach
The blissful glow of sundown bouncing off the waters and faces
Dusk on the seafront engulfs man and nature alike
Marine Drive, 2009