Travel Photography Blog by Nisa Maier and Ulli Maier. » Street Art

Welcome To Sassoon Docks, Home To Mumbai’s Forgotten Inhabitants.

Nisa — Sat, 23 Dec 2017 09:57:26 +0000

When travelling to a city with a population of almost 30 million, one might be overwhelmed with the sight possibilities. We’re quite good at navigating and finding “hidden” secrets, yet megacities like Mumbai are a bit of a challenge, even for us. What we normally do in such a case is browse through our neighbouring surroundings on Google Earth. Our hotel was located near Victoria Station, which means the possibilities up North are endless, yet South offered a smaller radius. Our attention was immediately caught when we hovering above the so called Sassoon Docks. With what looked like hundreds of colourful fishing boats, it was pretty clear that this needed to be checked out.

There are two kinds of people – those who’ll go to a market to buy fish and those who won’t. Markets (especially fish markets) can be stinky, and many of us would rather go to the supermarket. We love markets not only because of the great photo opportunities, but because this where the real deal happens. Sassoon Docks is one of the largest fish markets in the city and for us, it was just the right spot to go to. Turns out that the Sassoon Docks is also one of the oldest docks in Mumbai (142 years), and one of the few docks in the city open to the public.

Where Modern And Traditional Lives Cross.

The entrance looks like the gateway of a fortress, but we knew we were at the right spot when the salty whiff of the ocean and the scent of fish greeted us from afar. More and more people shoving large boxes of fish crossed our path and we knew that we were getting closer. What we didn’t know then is that the Sassoon Docks just recently got a funky street-art turnover called Sassoon Dock Art Project as part of the St+art Mumbai 2017 Urban Art Festival. Despite its historical value and with Mumbai’s try to escape its fishy roots, this place has rather been avoided by Mumbaikars. Like the docks, the memory of Mumbai’s Koli past is all but wiped clear.

The Sassoon Dog is hard to miss when walking along the Sassoon Docks in Mumbai.

Koli women are crucial to the running of the fishing trade at the Sassoon Docks and multiple installations and paintings are built around them.

St+art India is dedicated to making art public, taking it out from niche spaces of galleries and museums and the Sassoon Docks in Mumbai where just the right spot to shed light on this historic party of the city again.

Home Of The Koli People.

The Sassoon Dock in Mumbai is home to the city’s traditional Koli fishing community. The Koli people are an ethnic Indian group native to Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana states. It’s believed that the Koli people are Mumbai’s original inhabitants and whose goddess Mumbadevi lends her name to the city. The communities have thrived in the hidden quarters of the city, the koliwadas, which essentially means “a home that opens to the sea“. Much of the art here represents the lived realities of the Koli community – its people, their trade and its smell.

The art project started on November 11 and will run until December 30, 2017. Whether the Sassoon Docks will still be visited as frequently after, is unclear. After all, all the art in the world can’t make the notorious smell, the endless heat and the piercing noise – which are a few reasons people have not come here before – go away.

This has been our second visit to Sassoon Docks and tourists are still a rare sight here. The art installation has brought some upwind, yet only the eager and especially smell-resistent make it all the way to the end of the docks.

Currently, about 1,500 trawlers operate at the Sassoon Docks, bringing in around 20 tonnes of fish every day.

Once you reach the Sassoon Docks, at least 500 people are packed on to a partially-covered chunk of jetty, boats bobbing alongside.

A typical day at Sassoon Docks begins at 5 am when the fresh catch is brought in from the sea.

Over 150.000 people depend on the Sassoon Docks for their livelihood.

Men push loaded handcarts through the crowds at Sassoon Docks as they yell for people to get out of the way.

Despite the fact that most tourist wouldn’t buy fish at Sassoon Docks, women holding tubs full of fish will still ask you.

The docks were built in 1875 by the merchant, Sir Albert Abdullah David Sassoon, a prominent member of the Bombay Jewish community.

Where there’s fresh fish, there needs to be crushed ice. While fish is unloaded off the boats, tons of ice is crushed to keep the fish fresh at the Sassoon Docks.

There are so many ice-trucks on Sassoon Docks, that counting them would be impossible.

In addition to the jetty, the Sassoon Docks house a series of warehouses where the Koli fisherwomen shell prawns with staggering ability.

The sheer variety of fish on offer at Sassoon Docks is mind-blowing: red snapper, tuna, octopus, baby sharks, cuttlefish, blue crabs and stingray are some of the fish you can expect to find here.

Initially, the Sassoon Docks serviced the cotton trade as the Sassoon family were cotton merchants. It was after the decline of the Indian cotton industry that fishing became the main activity here.

The Sassoon Docks are ‘wet’ docks, which means it allows boats to enter at all times because the water level remains the same regardless of the tide.

Indeed The Coolest Little Capital In The World: Wellington.

Nisa — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 12:12:58 +0000

Wellington was my last stop on the North Island during my road trip through New Zealand. People have told me that Wellington was a real highlight and I should at least spend a couple of days here before continuing to the South Island. And they were right!

Wellington is no sleepy layover town where you catch the ferry across the Cook Strait. I immediately fell in love with New Zealand’s capital. It’s one of those cities I could actually live in. Who knows, maybe some day… Before I got to Wellington, I spent a couple of very lonely days on Cape Palliser, so a little city life didn’t turn me off. I decided to stay for two full days.

I spent most of my days strolling the city along the beautiful bay, sitting on one of the side walks along the way with a good cup of strong coffee.; no visit to the city is complete without a walk along the waterfront.

Up from Mount Victoria Lookout you have get a panoramic view of city and harbour. You can watch the ferries sailing in through the harbour and aircraft taking off from Wellington Airport. It’s also one of the city’s most popular visitor sites. And for LOTR fans, it’s also quite a special place; some of the very first footage for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy was filmed here. “We found a really good, spooky-looking road for the scene where the four Hobbits run and hide under the tree roots as the Black Rider approaches” Sir Peter Jackson says of the site on Mount Victoria, which was used in the famous ‘Get off the road’ scene. Unfortunately I came across this only after I left Wellington, so I have to return some day – which is on my agenda for 2015 anyway.

The view of Wellington from Mount Victoria Lookout.

Walking along the waterfront of Wellington is an absolute must for every visitor.

Paddling along the waterfront in a Kayak is also a good way to experience Wellington a different way.

Mount Victoria in Wellington is a well known spot for visitors and looks like a nice area to live in.

Downtown Wellington viewed from the top of Mount Victoria.

Street artist have done some amazing graffiti work in the centre of Wellington.

Exploring Downtown Wellington was a real highlight.

I love street art because it’s available for everyone at any time of the day.

Take off at the ferry terminal if the Interislander in Wellington.

The ferry ride across Cook Strait was a real highlight. Especially when reaching the South Island.

Street Art In Istanbul, Turkey.

Nisa — Mon, 20 May 2013 04:45:42 +0000

Galata’s most distinctive landmark north of the Golden Horn, is the conical-capped Galata Tower. From there, you not only have an amazing 360° panorama view of the city, but I’d also suggest to start wandering along the streets to feel the flair of Istanbul’s hippest part. When strolling the streets of the Galata Quarter (commonly known as Beyoğlu), you’ll come across some pretty amazing street art – especially graffiti.

For example the yellow fists by Berlin based Graffiti Writer Kripoea. The fists are a sign for rebellion, anarchy, and can be found pretty much everywhere in the city, also at places you might not expect…

Street Art in the Galata Quarter in Istanbul, Turkey.

Exploring The Galata Quarter In Istanbul, Turkey.

Nisa — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:17:05 +0000

Galata, or better Beyoğlu as it’s called today, has been our home for the last four days. Our apartment was about 25 meters next to the famous Galata Tower, one of the most important historical monuments of Istanbul. Up from the tower you have an amazing view of the city, but be prepared … you’ll need to wait at least 30-45 minutes to get up there, since there’s always a line. We were lucky, because our apartment also had a terrace from which we got a 360° view of the entire city. It wasn’t quite as high as the tower, but I was more than happy with what we got…

The view of our 360° terrace – In front: Galata Bridge & New Mosque, Istanbul.

The Galata Tower & its Quarter, Istanbul.

Galata is a great place to relax, wander the streets, discover, take pictures and enjoy the city. This part of town is hip, stylish, trendy & young. You’ll come across many local shops – from gift shops to cool shoe shops, vintage boutiques to Turkish designer’s showrooms – great cafés and cosy restaurants. The architecture is also worth seeing; it’s a mixture between run down buildings, old-fashioned wooded houses and modern façades.

A super cute little retro shop in Galata, Istanbul.

A run down building in Galata, Istanbul.

A man sitting in the doorway of a house in Galata, Istanbul.

Street Art.

I only took about 500 photos of all the different street art in the Galata quarter, therefore I’d only like to share a couple in this post, and keep the rest for a separate article. When wandering the side streets, you’ll come across some pretty awesome street art…

Panda Bear Graffiti in Galata, Istanbul.

Graffiti in the Galata Quarter of Istanbul.

What I liked most about Galata is the neighbourhoods energy, crowded by young people and many foreigners, who roam the streets at any given hour of the day. It’s definitely worth exploring, so take your time when coming to this part of Istanbul.