The Mumbai Street Photography Workshop will expose students to one of the world’s most visually magnificent and stimulating cities. Mumbai is India’s most exciting and largest city, with a metropolitan population of over 19 million people. It is a dynamic urban landscape. Formerly known as Bombay, it is the world’s fifth largest city and a rich canvas for aspiring photographers to hone their skills in a visually stunning, enchanting city environment.

Photographing in Mumbai will allow photographers to experience a vast range of cultural, socio-economic and human extremes that are unlike no other city in the world. Mumbai is home to great newfound wealth and is India’s financial and business capital as well as the center for art, fashion and filmmaking. Conversely, there are neighborhoods like Dharavi where over 1 million residents live in an area just over 500 acres in size—more than 18,000 people per acre. Mumbai is a city of great contrasts in all ways-making it a fascinating city to study visually and explore. The realities of the city offer an array of visual contrasts: new and old world; modernity and development and old world traditions; diverse socio-economic conditions that span a wide spectrum of human realities. One of the most exciting aspects of this workshop is the diversity of life and scenery one can observe and photograph.

The workshop is planned for October 14-20, 2012 and is designed to coincide with the Navaratri celebrations which occur over nine nights. A Hindu festival with traditional folk dancing, dancers take over stadiums and clubs throughout the city. Being in Mumbai at the time of this festival will be offer students the chance to witness amazing scenes to photograph, in a city that is at all times full of an abundance of scenes of life that are fascinating to photograph.

The workshop will be taught and led by Peter Turnley, one of the pre-imminent visual communicators and world traveling photographers of our time. He is also a tremendous teacher and has vast experience teaching overseas workshops. The workshop will focus on street photography, and students will learn to use the camera to explore and interpret this amazing city.

Students will approximately 3 1/2 hours each day in class with lectures, with lectures, presentations, photo critiques of student’s daily work, and discussion with Peter Turnley, and other members of Mumbai’s photographic community. Students will spend the rest of each day photographing street life around Mumbai, with the aim of creating a photo essay based around a particular visual theme of their choosing. The theme can be as broad as “My Impressions of Mumbai”, or as defined as the individual student chooses. Peter will work with students in their choice of theme, which can be determined ahead of time or devised within the week.

Peter will discuss various insights into technique, intent, composition, and the creative use of the camera and lens in a warm, relaxed atmosphere. He will review and critique each student’s portfolio, and works-in-process, discuss careers, getting published and offer each student an idea of how far along they are and how they can become even better photographers/visual communicators. Most importantly, he will help each student revel in the joy and wonderment of observation and seeing. Students will be focus on how to use documentary photography as a tool for visual storytelling and illuminating the intimate moments of everyday reality. Students will be encouraged to photograph both the ordinary and extraordinary scenes of daily life and to not shy away from the challenge of photographing people. With Peter's guidance and support, a student will learn to overcome any hesitations and timidity that is limiting their work.

Turnley is a master at photographing people and has vast experience in helping students relax and find a sense of purpose in the process of photographing people and daily life. He is a disciple of Henri-Cartier-Bresson, and passionately encourages his students to hone their attention to the “decisive moments” everyday life. Students will create a final 15-image photo story/essay from their week of shooting in Mumbai. Peter Turnley will help the students refine not only their photography, but gain a greater sense of creating a narrative with images, and how to conceptualize images into dynamic storytelling. Turnley will help you find the threads of commonality in your images that contribute to each person’s individual vision.

For the adventurous photographer Mumbai offers a cornucopia of diverse locations to document the many aspects of daily life here. Here are some examples. Juhu Beach on the Arabian Sea in Western Mumbai is their version of Malibu. Located in an affluent area of town, it is home to many Bollywood actors and actresses who have bungalows overlooking the bustling beach scene where street vendors serve traditional Indian street food such as bhepuri and chaat to the locals.

Dhobi Ghat is the extreme opposite from what you will find at Juhu Beach. A sprawling open-air concrete Laundromat of sorts, Dhobi Ghat is where hundreds of men scrub clothes against concrete wash bins using rocks and boiling pots of water and bleach. They then hang them out to dry in an area covering several city blocks. There are also bustling outdoor markets to explore and one of the most famous is the Chor Market on Mutton Street. Once called the “thieves’ market” because of all the stolen goods, today it is a busy place selling everything from antiques and prints to chandeliers and china.

Scenes of bustling and crowded local trains and the cities trains stations will also offer fascinating themes to photograph.

Mumbai is home to many temples, churches and mosques as well. One of the most notable is Haji Ali Dargah which dates back to 1431. Located on a small islet in the middle of Worli Bay, it is only accessible during low tide. Another terrific temple is The Global Vipassana Pagoda where up to 8,000 people can practice meditation.

Peter will encourage students to explore all of Mumbai’s many contrasts by examining its complex nexus of streets and neighborhoods in an effort to create a photographic essay that captures the heart and soul of daily Mumbai life. Your goal is to create a visual narrative—to tell a story with a series of images that are tied to a theme. Your theme can be quite broad such as “My Impressions of Mumbai”, or quite narrowly defined-this will be your choice. Don’t be concerned with developing a theme before you arrive. Peter can help you with the process and has helped hundreds of students craft successful photojournalistic essays in cities all over the world. However, it is recommended that you research and learn as much as you can about Mumbai before arriving so that you are well prepared to document the city’s rich culture.

The workshop will be based in Mumbai’s Colaba neighborhood, which is centrally located to access this vast city. Part of seven reclaimed islands that make up Mumbai, Colaba is one of the oldest sections of the city with terrific architecture like that of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. It is an area known for its good hotels, shopping and restaurants and makes for a comfortable base of operations to explore the rest of the city.

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