Johnny Miller highlights social inequalities in Mumbai using drone cameras

On an unpleasantly warm Tuesday afternoon Johnny Miller hit Juhu Chowpatty made himself as inconspicuous as he could behind a sand mound and flew his drone camera to capture Mumbai from a hitherto unseen viewpoint Unseen because in India flying a drone requires a long line of permissions to come through from the aviation ministry The USborn and now Cape Townbased photographer managed to clear the ground for himself and secured the required ticks with the help of a wellconnected friend to shoot Dharavi Juhu and Bandra Kurla Complex from aboveThis was the first photo taken for Unequal Scenes On the left is Masiphumele in Cape Town where 38000 people live in tin shacks on the right is the wealthy Lake Michelle area Separating them is a wetland patchHis project Unequal Scenes is a oneofakind photo narrative that captures social discrepancies from a height of a few hundred metres Cape Town forms the focus of Millers work but his photos also span Nairobi Mexico City and the US In India Mumbai is his first stopIts currently a work in progress and if all goes well Miller will exhibit his works here in 2019 Speaking to us before his talk at Colabas Tarq art gallery he says that he first visited Mumbai in 2016 for a project where he was expected to capture the worlds largest slums At that time however he did not see himself experienced enough to try his luck with the drone here This time around he says that getting a drone into the country wasnt easy And then I forgot my charger I had to get a guy from a streetside shop to work the wires of a charger so that it worked for my droneStumbling on a spot to shoot is no accident he says In South Africa for instance there are census maps that mark areas as black white rich poor This helps me narrow in on a potential zone to shoot I then look them up on Google Earth to get an idea of how they appear from the skies In India I have not been able to source such maps but my research led me to the works of architect PK Das who worked extensively on the slums of Mumbai It proved helpfulMiller says research is imperative to pursue drone photography because you can only fly for a limited time and get about 50 shots While choosing a spot I listen to my instincts in various ways and so far I have not been disappointed Today for instance I didnt imagine Id get the shots I did he smiles Barring the photography aspect of it flying a drone requires a gamut of skills Its dangerous if you lose concentration and cross a line you should not And people on ground are always curious about what you are doing I walked through the slums here in Juhu and Dharavi today talked to the locals and gauged their reactions You dont want them on the wrong side And then I had to make myself inconspicuous while shooting Thats my modus operandi anywhere Its part gangsta part photographer part journalistThe 36yearold however is no stranger to adventure Before he found his calling in drone cameras he was a drifter trying out different things which included a Forrest Gumpesque walk from Mexico to Canada for no reason at all when he was 27 After a basic course in documentary videos a scholarship took him to Cape Town to study anthropology in 2012 I fell in love with the place and have stayed back since To sustain himself he began to take up freelance photo projects When he first toggled with the drone he had no goal in mind I just wanted to make an extra buck by adding an edge to my images Then one day I shot a video of myself hiking on the Table Mountain When a friend saw it he told me he had never seen Table Mountain from that angle And hes a local I realised that the drone has the power of a new perspective Thereon my story developed bit by bit with every shot I tookOnce the government legalises the use of drones in India come January 1 2018 Miller believes things will get easier When you see poverty or any kind of inequality from top down it helps you acquire an objective point of view rather than emotionally engage with an image My aim is to get a dialogue started and involve policy makers to address the problem around the world Does he worry that the wow factor of his images might take away from the message I am worried about the opposite in fact People get the message but shy away from appreciating the art Because that would mean they are calling slums and shanties beautiful he laughs