Mumbai North is a collection black and white - photographs taken 15,000 ft above sea level between December 2014 and November 2015 of Mumbai's suburbs by photographer Robert D Stephens.
After the success of his two previous exhibitions, 'Mumbai Articles' (2014) and 'Madras Transit' (Aug 2015) were, Stephens offers an alternate lens into the urban geography, landscape and sprawl of the city's suburbs with Mumbai North.
One of the unique aspects of this photograph is that it is accompanied by a record of air pollution levels on the corresponding day, as measured by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board as well as extracts from antiquarian books related to Mumbai, dating back to the late 1800s.
Northern Intrusions
January 2015
SO2 - 11 ug / m3
NOx - 83 ug / m3
RSPM - 124 ug / m3
"Bombay lies on the extreme west edge of one of the most prominent and widely spread rock-systems of India known as the Deccan Trap, which was formed, in all probability, immediately after the cretaceous period. The great igneous outbursts, with which the cataclysm then was associated, resulted in profuse flows of lava which, as suggested by Sir A. Geikie, were in all probability poured out from fissures and notfrom volcanic cones, and to which chiefly the peculiar horizontal formations characteristic of the trap-rocks are supposed to be due. The flow of lava extended over a vast area, covering a large portion of India lying between 10 degrees of latitudeand 16 degrees of longitude. The traps about the island of Bombay are mostly basaltic and belong to the uppermost series of these rocks, and the presence of beds of volcanic ash in the form of ash breccias is by no means rare in the vicinity of Pareland Sion. The action however ceased aeons ago, and no volcanic action has been recorded in Bombay even in legend."
Gazetteer of Bombay City and Island
Page 101
Edwards, S.M.
1909
Robert D. Stephens is a Principal at RMA Architects, Mumbai. His passions include the art of building and constructing beauty through visual, literary, and cinematic imagery. In 2013 he co-produced a feature film with India's first You Tube star, Wilbur Sargunaraj, entitled "Simple Superstar".
About Mumbai North
Aerial Photographs of Mumbai's Suburbs by Robert D. Stephens
Click links below to see his other collections:
Mumbai Articles Madras Transit After the success of Mumbai Articles, Stephen's contemporary black and white, aerial photographs of Mumbai city, photographer Robert D Stephens turns his attentions to the surburbs of Mumbai. This January, he brings us Mumbai North, an urban portrait collection of suburban geography, featuring black and white photographs taken 15,000 ft above sea level between December 2014 and November 2015. Suburbs documented range from Nalasopara to Bhiwandi, Vikhroli to Aarey Colony, Bandra to Kandivali, and more.