Man changing tire on the streets of Mumbai.

2015. Mumbai, India. Mindspace, MDP Road. “Tire change”

Street Photography

My Street Photography project is an ongoing, umbrella project that covers all of my street photography shots, regardless of the gear used or location. This is meant to be my Instagram feed, so to speak, in that my focus will be posting here first with images and captions before copying it out to my social platforms.

What’s my short definition of street photography? Photos that are taken in public spaces. That’s it. This crosses over with a large swath of other genres, like travel and documentary photography, to name just two, but my intention is to share those images that capture my attention and that I hope will resonate with viewers.

Many of these images will be of locales in Mumbai since this mega city of 18+ million is currently my home — and very much one of the best places in the world for street photography. I’ve decided to start building this project from scratch with new images from 2022. I’ll be posting old images too as the mood strikes me, but I want this to be a fresh project to share new work. Be patient as I build out this page; my street photography endeavors have only just begun this year.

As a side note, I’ve begun referring to my street photography as plein air, a term that is more of a traditional one and borrowed from painters that could perhaps capture the essence of what I do outdoors a lot better than street photography.

 

2022. Mumbai - near Aksa Beach.

I have a lot of kids who approach me for selfies and to get their pictures taken. This is never more entertaining than when I happen to have my fisheye lens going. The strange effect of around the border is what happens when you forget to put your full frame camera in Super 35 mode when using an APS-C lens. But instead of editing it out, I left it in because I like the rough look. I may start shooting more like this.

2022. Mumbai, India. Link Road.

I think these guys were getting chewed out by the boss man or he'd given some unwelcome instructions. I don't know the full story because I was on foot and rushing to the scene while these laborers held these beams up with their expressions of disbelief. To be upfront, I had to really tweak the perspective and crop to make it look a little bit straight-on but in reality, my angle of view was definitely more off to the side when I captured this shot. For me, this counts as one of those unrepeatable shots that you only happen across occasionally.

Three pedestrians pointing at something in the distance, Mumbai.

2022. Mumbai, India. Link Road.

I was on foot shooting with a focal length that I’m falling in love with all over again, 24mm. I saw these three pointing at something from a distance away and had to make a choice: either try to determine what they were looking at or get the shot. I hoofed it quickly up to them from about 30 feet away and clicked the silent shutter. After I confirmed that I’d gotten the shot on the screen, I was happy. I walked away without a glimpse up.

2022. Mumbai, India.

Self-portrait or selfie? Whichever term you prefer, I’m in the backseat of this auto-rickshaw holding up the camera. Making good use of my 24mm prime lens in a confined space. I spend a lot of time in rickshaws because they’re my favorite mode of transportation in Mumbai. Even in the ugliest days of summertime heat and humidity, I’ll choose to sweat and take pictures. Street photography for me is more of a compulsion now than a passion. It certainly makes my Point A to Point B trips more interesting, although on this particular journey, I booked the ride just to take shots.

A black and white street photography image at a roadside construction site in Mumbai.

2022, Mumbai, India.

This image could very well have been placed in my #RidingRickshaw project page because I was a passenger when I photographed this scene with my 18mm lens.

 

Blog Table of Contents

It’s impossible to include all my street photography images and captions on this page. That’s why my blog also serves as a supplementary source for my street photography endeavors. All of these hyperlinks lead to my blog on this website.

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ICM

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Riding Rickshaw