Mumbai-the financial capital of India, is fondly described as a 'City of Dreams' by millions of Indians.
It is undeniably the most sought-after Indian city, where people flock every year from different corners of the country to fulfil their dreams, make a fortune, or find employment for mere survival.
It is also probably the most stereotyped city with clichéd misconceptions about it extending beyond Indian borders.
The identity of Mumbai as an Alpha World City extends beyond its stereotypes. Beyond its crowded suburban local trains, the Gateway of India, the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, the colonial heritage buildings, the sprawling slums of Dharavi that were featured in Slumdog Millionaire, the 'vada-pav', the star-studded Film City, Bollywood celebrities and so on, there exists a Mumbai aiming for the skies.
The city boasts of being home to the largest concentration of skyscrapers and highrises in India, including some of India's tallest buildings-beating every other Indian city by a large margin. Home to 200+ skyscrapers, it has the most striking skyline of any South Asian city and ranks among the top 10 cities globally by the number of skyscrapers.
As Mumbai underwent a massive transformation, the author documented its upward soar with his photography from 2017 to 2021. The photos thus created have been compiled into this photobook aptly named 'Towering Mumbai', a collection of cityscape photos of Mumbai defining its vertical rise on par with world cities, breaking clichéd misconceptions about the city and its infamous slums.
'Towering Mumbai' is a gift from the author to millions of people who are associated with Mumbai, call it home, and the ones who visited the city for a short while but carried back home with themselves a piece of it in their hearts.
Mhatre, Sanjog: - Sanjog Mhatre is a 24-year-old self-taught skyscraper and cityscape photographer residing in Mumbai, India.He harbours an innate passion for skyscrapers and cities. Having lived on the outskirts of Mumbai for most of his life, he was fascinated with the city life and harboured aspirations of making it to the tops of tall buildings of Mumbai to view and photograph the city from.Sanjog studied the buildings and cityscape of Mumbai from 2013 and started photographing from the tops of buildings in 2015 by seeking approvals from major buildings in Mumbai. He started 'Towering Goals' in 2017, a full-fledged architecture photography service specialising in photographing skyscrapers and cityscapes for developers, architects, consultants, and contractors. Sanjog has shot cityscapes from the tops of 160+ buildings in India, including 130+ buildings in Mumbai alone.Sanjog and his works have been featured by news and media portals: The Indian Express, Mid-Day Mumbai, Hindustan Times, Asian Photography Magazine, Yahoo Lifestyle, RealtyNXT, APAlmanac. He also featured on TV in Doordarshan Sahyadri's chat show 'Beyond Thoughts Vicharanchya Palikadle'.
