The lives of others

Even at the age of 72 years, freelance photojournalist Ashish Raje is out and about on the roads of Mumbai capturing real stories. An alumnus in photography from Sir JJ School of Art, Raje worked under photographer Sanjiv Nadkarni for two years only to realise that commercial photography isn’t his calling. “After that, I shot weddings for some time, as I needed money to survive. At that time my father brought my first camera, a Yashica FX 3, which I still have. Now I use a basic D5300 Nikon,” he says.

Kala Shiva celebrates holi with his wife at his makeshift hut outside Shriram Mills.

It was with Apla Mahanagar in 1993 that he started his journey as a photojournalist. But on friend and fellow photojournalist Sudharak Olwe’s suggestion, took part in the National Foundation of India Fellowship that brought him closer to capturing real emotions and actions in a frame. “Twenty-five years had passed since the mills shut down. My uncle and father-in-law, both were mill workers and I have seen the struggle. So I couldn’t think of a better place than the mills to look for real human stories,” says Raje who chose mills across Parel and Byculla for the fellowship but failed in his first attempt. “Earlier, I clicked pictures only of the mills, without any human element. I worked on it again but this time included the workers. To find them, I really didn't have to look hard,” he adds. His meeting with one worker led him to a lot of former workers and their stories of struggle. “I had gone looking for an ex-mill worker who now makes Ganesh idols. There, I meet a boy whose father was a mill worker and h
ad lost his vision over time due to mental stress,” shares the photojournalist, adding, “From there, I went to shoot the lottery ticket seller, who led me to the one selling clothes.”

acG.S Tiwari has been serving as a guard outside Srinivas Mills since 1966.

Originally shot in colour, Raje later converted them to monochromes. Shot in both defunct and working mills, he would take a walk with the workers and capture whatever appealed to his sense. “Whatever is in front of you is the picture. It is all a learning process, the more you click, the more you will learn from your own work,” he advises.

This worker carries out the pooja all alone

Raje advocates for unpretentiousness in the frames and says that the key to a good image is patience, as the simpler frames always look the best. “The mood of the picture, that is the environment and circumstances under which you are capturing it will make for a good photograph,” he concludes.

Caught in the time frame and the web of destiny, this worker is oblivious to what lies in the future

Old machinery go kaput very often and the workers fix it themselves.

This watchman at Shakti Mills was a mill worker at the Khatau Mills