Mumbai-based American photographer captures the essence of Juhu beach

Craig Boehman’s ICM photograph captures a man taking a dive into the sea at Juhu Beach. Pics Courtesy/Craig Boehman

"To see, one must forget the name of the things we are looking at," said French artist Claude Monet, who spearheaded the Impressionism movement. This art movement, which found its subject in the depiction of the surroundings as a whole, instead of the details of any one object, continues to seep into the contemporary world. And if you try not to read between the blurred lines, you might actually notice an avatar of this thought process in Juhu Beach - courtesy, American street photographer Craig Boehman.

Boehman at work at the beach. Pic/Nimesh Dave

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The 53-year-old, who hails from Oregon and has found home in Mumbai since 2013, is currently re-exploring the city through a new lens, quite literally. The photographer's most recent project includes a technique called Intentional Camera Movement (ICM), where the surroundings and people emerge as distinct, smeared shadows. "ICM is a technique that requires the shutter speed to be very slow. While I prefer to keep the speed to be a quarter of a second, some even go up to half a second to achieve their desired output," Boehman explains, "ICM helps me give my work an impressionistic appearance. I cannot paint, and so, this method allows me to take photographs that look like paintings."

A woman holds up her dupatta against the breeze

Boehman, who is currently based in Goregaon, has spent 11 years exploring the lengths of the city's streets, starting from Bandra. The past year has been dedicated to experimenting with ICM. "I came to Mumbai with my wife [Alokananda Dasgupta]. We met in a school in Toronto in 2007, and fell in love. By 2013, she was at the peak of her career in Mumbai. As a photographer, I had no such restrictions to stay in the USA. So, I came here with her, and have accepted Mumbai as my home ever since," he reminisces. Taking to the fast life of the city and even the high temperatures wasn't that difficult for Boehman. "I adapted to the heat in a couple of months. The language, however, continues to be a barrier. I can speak enough Hindi now to get directions. For instance, "Yeh rasta kaha jaata hai?", he rattles off in an American accent.

A tourist clicks a selfie with the sea in the backdrop

The will to take up street photography full-time only emerged upon his arrival in the city, Boehman shares. "I took a course in biomedical photography in college but the programme was abandoned somewhere near the end of it. I didn't like that field of studying - it was boring! But the very first attempt at something artistic probably was picking up an old Polaroid instant camera and taking pictures with it when I was a kid. I was never encouraged with a camera but I remember using up all the film and flashbulbs whenever an adult, likely grandparents, would let me. I indulged in a lot of music and poetry as a young adult, and eventually found my way back to [street] photography after landing in India," he shares.

Policemen on patrolling duty

While his favourite place to walk around in Mumbai is Aarey Colony, Juhu made for the perfect location to experiment with ICM due the crowds that gather in this public space. Some of these works have also been selected to be featured on New Mexico's photography community Santa Fe Workshops' website. He will also be taking a lecture on ICM online on May 18 (open to global audiences) for the platform. "Photography came easy to me but street photography required a lot of dedication to get it right. Circling back, all of my fine art photography works are sourced from my experience in street photography, including ICM," he signs off.

Log on to craigboehman.com (to buy limited-edition ICM prints); santafeworkshops.com (to see his featured works and sign up for the workshop)