Mumbai North: Contemporary Aerial Photographs of Mumbai’s Suburbs

‘Mumbai North’ features black-and-white aerial photographs of the city’s suburban ecologies—social and natural. Spanning from Sanjay Gandhi National Park to Gorai Creek, and from Bhiwandi’s Waral Lake to Powai, the series visually engages with the ecosystems of Mumbai. Juxtaposed against each photograph are excerpts from archival publications, such as the 1964 Report on the Development Plan for Greater Bombay and the 1965 Marg publication, Bombay, Planning and Dreaming. Together, these two art forms are interwoven into a photo-literary tapestry spanning decades, providing historical insight as to how policies and development plans of the past have shaped urban forms of the present. Air pollution levels, as monitored by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, record the contents of atmospheric contaminants such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and respirable suspended particulate matter. This photo-essay integrates multiple layers of information—visual, historical and anthropogenic—as a contemporary means of a new civic survey.