Photo Synthesis

Having just released a new book of photographs, Sunhil Sippy says the camera saved his life

- Shaikh Ayaz

You might think there can be nothing really novel about a Mumbai photobook anymore, but ad filmmaker Sunhil Sippy makes a compelling case for his newly released collection of photos, The Opium of Time: Photographs of Mumbai 2010-2020: “I would say that the book is relevant because of the period it covers—from 2010 till 2020. Since the pandemic, the city’s topography has evolved radically. The book celebrates the last phase of the old city.” Sippy tells us the title ‘The Opium of Time’ is borrowed from German writer W.G. Sebald. He feels it perfectly sums up his 131 images. “My objective was to create something timeless. I wanted to leave behind for the city an emotional document, not an intellectual one,” he says.