A newcomer's photo diary of Mumbai

"Dream Mumbai is a project born out of a survival instinct," says photojournalist Kainaz Amaria. She describes her senses as being "on overload" when she first arrived in Mumbai. 

"I felt like a child when I first got here," she says. "Even the simplest of tasks, crossing the street or buying a piece of fruit, struck me with a tinge of terror."

In order to acclimate herself to her new surroundings Amaria began taking long walks with her camera, sometimes for several hours. Everywhere she went, so did her camera. "A bit like shock therapy," she says.

"The walks made me familiar with my neighboring geography but the images helped me understand the people living in the neighborhoods," says the Indian-born American photojournalist and Fulbright Scholar, who now lives and works in Mumbai.

Images weave from a five-star hotel pig roast to a Parsi wedding ceremony and collectively create a "visual diary" -- pixel moments of Amaria's experiences, and glimpses into the variety of emotions and landscapes that dominate the streets of Mumbai. 

"Successful images in my opinion have a subtle internal narrative which can then be interpreted by the viewer who brings their own life experiences to the image," says Amaria. 

"Mumbai is a city with constant contradictions," she continues. "There is so much humanity to witness on the streets of Mumbai, the city can fill and crush your soul in the very same moment."

Sita Wadhwani is CNNGo City Editor in Mumbai.

 

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