The final Chapter of the Photo book has been executed in the local trains of Mumbai, a city known for its pace – a critical dimension of transition. It is an attempt to capture the speed and mobility of life which was not experienced by me in the other two cities. The central idea for this section is located in lives in and around local train, also known as the life line of city. The genre that has been chosen here is documentary photography.
The Mumbai Local is a life line to millions of people, across social, economic, gender and age groups, who travel daily from one part of the city to another. While carrying these millions of Mumbaikars across the city, the Mumbai local silently witnesses the stories of these co-travellers and keeps enriching its repositories over the journeys. In focus the Andheri Station with a local just about to enter with teaming multitude of Mumbaikars.
The early morning at Andheri station starts with a hope that when the train starts its journey, it would bring about some opportunities for the people that depend on it entirely. The monochrome reflects the mood of the lone man who earns his living by adding an early shine to the shoes of the travelers.
Life is all about choices. There are a lot of options of trains around you. Others move on while you wait for your opportunity to get into the right train to get to your chosen destination.
The young and the old share a common space at the same time, but given their experiences and aspirations they will transit differently in life. Combination of motion and stillness has been used to communicate the effect.
Luggage being an integral part of any journey (both physical and emotional) this monochrome snapshot tries to communicate that at an earlier stage in life, the man chooses what to carry with him, and what is to be left behind.
Following from the last, at the later stage in life, the old man carries whatever life has offered him. The sharp contrast adds to the crispness of the picture.
Decision has been made to set transition in motion. Lifeline on the track. Light trail technique has been used to show the movement of one local out of the station while the other remains stationery.
Millions of souls make the train their transitory home. None are bound but memories stay. Slow shutter speed has been used to capture the latent image and ghosting to depict memory.
Different destinations at different times. Some choose to get off early, some wait for their destination to arrive. The story captured in monochrome also captures the two characters in contrast One standing while the other sitting, One in his youth the other old. One eager to exit while the other waiting.
Though sharing the same train, each person carries a different story of the different tracks that their lives have led them to. The composition uses warm and cool colors to communicate the difference between the subjects.
In the journey of life, there are new bonds made along the way with memories created that stay with the people till the journey ends. Dual tone has been used to accentuate the effect.
All the journeys that the people decide to take begin with a lot of hopes and dreams. Light from the sun (symbolizing hope) has been used to brighten the mood of the picture.
Mumbai local otherwise known by its hustle and bustle, can also provide some moments of solace Metaphorically during the transit of life, it might appear nothing is happening but this could mean that people are unaware of what life has to offer. Different colors, depths and tones add to the interest in the picture.
Each station is like those moments in life where the people have to fight for their place and space to reach their destination. The struggle is accentuated by the open palms as well as the hand prints on the outer wall of the coach.
Despite the discomfort and unpleasantness the journey has to be continued which often forces people to step into the spaces reserved for other people. The coach clearly was marked for reservation for the disabled and cancer affected, but their spaces have been usurped by the more abled.
When things get unstable, people should not be afraid to ask for help. When people are offered support, they should hang on to it. The picture interestingly captures the mood by focusing on the handles through another handle. Although the coach is full, still few handles can be seen unused.
Even the chaos can be handled in the journey of life if people are able to find their own space. The subject has been purposely captured in a manner that accentuates the claustrophobic atmosphere of an over crowded local.
Claiming privacy in shared journeys could be a challenge. The camera captures secretly another human seeing another humans mobile secretly.
If there is space for everyone along with respect for their private space, exclusivity of the individual journeys can be maintained. Despite the rush, each person captured in the frame is enjoying his/her little private space.
When it seems like a journey has come to an end, it is the beginning of another. From one platform to the other and from one goal to the other.
