Chandu Mhatre

Based in New Delhi and Mumbai, India, Mhatre has worked for a wide variety of international media groups and global organizations. Apart from all the leading publications, leading international and Indian magazines and newspapers as well as a variety of global organizations has published his works. Chandu's pictures have been extensively used by UNICEF, UNDP, Fortune, Forbes, Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, Geo, The Times London, The Independent, The Guardian, The Telegraph, Marg Publications, CBS 60 Minutes, Debonair, India Today, Bombay Magazine, The Illustrated Weekly of India, Onlooker, Mirror, Imprint, The Times of India and The Indian Express

B Arch

Urban Reflections
Urban reflections, is a collection of realistic and surreal images of Bombay (Mumbai, India), as seen by me, over the last seven years. These images capture the rapidly changing life in Mumbai, which has adopted the path of a vertical growth during the last decade.
This ‘makeover’ in the name of ‘development’ is changing the city’s skyline rapidly; in their quest for materialism, people are uprooted from their cultural moorings thereby resulting in urban chaos. Sea links, highways and flyovers inundated with vehicles have added to the frantic pace of life. The resulting images are seen reflected, on mirrored walls, windows and doors. Contemporary life in Mumbai is a vibrant kaleidoscope of colours and images.
The continuous flow of migrants to Mumbai makes it a melting pot of cultures and traditions. People from all levels of society come with hope, intellectual inputs, traditional values, religious beliefs and cultural nuances. They provide manpower needed to keep the city running. This in turn has an impact on urban life, creating opportunities as well as tensions due to conflicts of interest, beliefs, values and their survival instinct.
All these trends are powerfully reflected in images of the city. “Urban...