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Mumbai's Street Life, As Not Seen Before

August 09, 2023 09:01 IST

It has been two years since Danish Siddiqui, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian photojournalist who worked with the news agency Reuters, was murdered by the Taliban in Kandahar, Afghanistan, July 15, 2021.

Kehrer Verlag has published Danish Siddiqui, a collection of his photographs. His wife and two children will be entitled to funds raised from sales of the book.

The Guardian newspaper noted that 'The book is, on every page, an expression not only of Siddiqui’s talent and his courage, but of his determination to give a human face to some of the world's injustices.'

In homage to an outstanding photojournalist, Rediff.com presents a selection of his photographs which capture the essence of street life in Mumbai.

 

IMAGE: A worker sleeps on a cart full of chickens at a wholesale poultry market. All Photographs: The Late Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

 

IMAGE: A vendor selling Paani Puri covers himself with a plastic sheet as it rains on a beach.

 

IMAGE: A vendor drinks tea while waiting for customers as he sells a collection of items at a roadside shop.

 

IMAGE: A worker arranges saris outside a shop.

 

IMAGE: A woman wearing a mask blows bubbles as she sells toys at the roadside.

 

IMAGE: Saddam practices stunts at a beach along the Arabian Sea. Saddam belongs to a small group called The Scrolls who travel from the far northern suburbs of Mumbai to the city to perform breakdancing and other stunts at marriages parties and other events.

 

IMAGE: Migrant workers sleep under a mosquito net beneath an overpass.

 

IMAGE: A woman sleeps with her baby on a pavement at a market.

 

IMAGE: Five-year-old Sonu holds balloons as he helps his father at a fair.

 

IMAGE: Vendors sell clothes on the roadside at a second-hand street side clothing market. The market is open daily for three hours and hundreds of vendors gather to barter or sell used clothing.

 

IMAGE: A customer reacts as an 'ear cleaner' works on his ear. Traditional 'ear cleaners' are common in the old quarters of many Indian towns, and roam about the streets in search of customers looking for relief from itches and discomforts.

 

IMAGE: Abdul Salaam pulls a handcart loaded with empty vegetable crates.

 

Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com

DANISH SIDDIQUI