A photographer's love letters to Mumbai

Image source, Sooni Taraporevala

Image caption, A camel ride on Mumbai's Marine Drive in 1977

Sooni Taraporevala is a leading Indian photographer, screenwriter and filmmaker.

She is best known for writing films such as Mississippi Masala, The Namesake, and Oscar-nominated Salaam Bombay. She also directed the National Award-winning film Little Zizou.

Since 1977 Taraporevala has photographed India's western city of Mumbai in which she grew up.

These photographs celebrate the odd and the everyday and provide a significant contribution to the social history of one of India's most diverse cities.

Her images, cutting across class and community lines, are an insider's affectionate view. Her photographs explore one of the most populous cities in the world.

The works on display at an upcoming exhibition in Mumbai are personal documents of the city's eccentrics, its children, its elderly within the landscape: a gentle mirror to the culture and politics of Bombay with the secret sideways glance of a casual observer.

The photographs are published in a new book, Home in the City, which will include essays by Salman Rushdie and Pico Iyer.

Image source, Sooni Taraporevala

Image caption, Actors Lilliput (left) and Stellan Skarsgard on the set of a film in 1987

Image source, Sooni Taraporevala

Image source, Sooni Taraporevala

Image caption, A synagogue, 2012

Image source, Sooni Taraporevala

Image caption, Spectators at an air show, Marine Drive, 2005

Image source, Sooni Taraporevala

Image caption, A security guard sits on a rope bed at Juhu Airport in 1982

Image source, Sooni Taraporevala

Image caption, A film shooting on location, 1987

Image source, Sooni Taraporevala

Image caption, Actors Sarfu and Irrfan Khan (right) blindfolded during a workshop on the film, Salaam Bombay, 1987

Image source, Sooni Taraporevala

Image caption, One of India's most famous artists, MF Husain at home, Mumbai 2005. He died in June 2011

Image source, Sooni Taraporevala

Image caption, A girl looks at the ocean while standing on a beach, Mumbai, 2015

Image source, Sooni Taraporevala

Image caption, Men laughing while celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi, a Hindu festival, 2016

Image source, Sooni Taraporevala

Image caption, Naseeruddin Shah (left) and Stellan Skarsgard on the set of a film, 1987

Image source, Sooni Taraporevala

Image caption, A poster of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during the Congress party's centenary celebrations, 1985

Image source, Sooni Taraporevala

Image caption, The navy band performs ahead of the premiere of the movie Janbaaz at Metro Cinema, 1986

Image source, Sooni Taraporevala

Image caption, Actor Raj Kapoor at the premiere of Janbaaz while a fan gazes at him, 1986

Sooni Taraporevala's photo exhibition Home in the City opens on 13 October at Mumbai's Chemould Prescott Road