Dharavi photo essay

Only three-square kilometers in size, Dharavi has about eighteen thousand people per acre of land. The land was originally a mangrove swamp. In the late nineteenth-century, Koli fishermen made up the majority of its residents.

Dharavi is the hub of the informal economy; most residents have a job within the slum. As we continued the tour, Felix explained the various development attempts since 1985. The economy in Mumbai is soaring, and Dharavi happens to be located in an area of prime real estate.

Whenever I would take a photo of a group of children, they would erupt in screams of joy and laughter. In my extremely sheltered view of the world, I see these conditions as repulsive. But for the people of Dharavi, this is life. This is their home, where they grew up, and will live for the rest of their lives.

The swamp eventually filled in, and a huge wave of immigration swept through the area. Migrants from all over India travelled to Mumbai and settled in Dharavi.