Zubin Pastakia is a documentary photographer and urban researcher living and working in Mumbai.

In 2006 he began working on a series looking at single-screen cinema halls in Mumbai. The project was initially supported by a fellowship from SARAI-CSDS and was awarded the TOTO Funds the Arts Award for Photography in 2008. The intention is to exhibit and compile the work into a photobook in the near future.

His other photographic project looks at the built environment of Mumbai. Focusing on slum rehabilitation projects, housing colonies of different social classes, peripheries of new business centers, suburban townships, sites of environmental degradation and open spaces that are pending development, the project takes a critical look at the forces that are shaping the city's constant metamorphosis. Still in progress, the series has been supported by a grant from the India Habitat Centre. Some of the work from this project has been exhibited in group shows by Tasveer Gallery.

Zubin freelances for various publications and also photographs for architects and interior designers.

And, yes, the prints are for sale. Contact Zubin for more information.

If you have questions for Zubin, post them in the comments section below. I am sure he looks forward to hearing from you.

It was a magazine clipping that my mother handed me on my way back to the US that first introduced me to Homai Vyarawalla, India's first woman photojournalist. In a field that is clearly overrun by men, I was easily charmed by her tenacity and resolve to also bear witness to India's first waking moments as an independent nation.

Check out this film – it's rather long at 70 minutes – to get acquainted with a legend in the field of photojournalism.

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

Post your thoughts below in the comments section. I look forward to hearing from you.

What do you make of this advertisement? Like anything I know there are two sides to this story. What have you heard? I want to know. Yes, the natural environment must be protected. Yes, the nation's progress depends on manufacturing, jobs, infrastructure etc. But who has done a cost-benefit analysis here? Is there an environmental report somehwer that is free of jargon and easy to understand by the lay person? Do we give a shit one way or another?

Here is your chance to speak up. Tell me. Tell us. Keep the language clean and the discussion civil. And, when you do comment, please use your REAL name, a real email address and if you have a website, a real URL. If you are going to want to remain anonymous, I am afraid your comment will be deleted. Sorry!

Now, speak!

Om writes with great regret about how he is missing out on the Nasreen Mohamedi show at the Talwar Gallery in NYC. I have to confess I had never heard of Mohamedi before Om mentioned it in his blog. Given that I live so close to the city (well, relatively) I should really try and check it out before it closes on October 25.

Anyone else visited the gallery and seen the show? Want to send me a short 100-word report? I'll promise to post it here and credit you for it (of course!)

Talwar is showing her photographs from the 1960's and 70's, which she never exhibited. {From NYTimes}

KODAK sells most cameras in India
Business Standard, India

“For the US-based imaging major Kodak, India has become the largest market
for cameras, bigger than China and the US.”