Contact Sheet Print: Shivali, Juhu Beach, Mumbai, India, 2017

In 2016 and 2017, Olivia Arthur traveled to Mumbai, India, capturing identity and intimacy in society in a series named In Private/Mumbai. With growing religious conservatism and the re-criminalization of gay sex, privacy and seclusion were necessary for self-expression, even safety. In the quiet of people’s homes, Arthur captured members of the LGBTQ+ community in undisturbed, frank moments—stripped bare of societal pressure or judgment and in stark contrast to the busy, bustling life of India’s largest city: “Photographing people in their private spaces, I began to find a confidence and intimacy that is ready to be shared.”

Arthur photographed this series on Linhof and Graflex large format cameras. She describes them as old fashioned cameras where the photographer has to put her head under a cloth. “There’s nothing discreet about it,” she says. Toes of one foot en pointe like a ballet dancer are shown in the Contact Sheet, Shivali, a dancer and trans-woman on Juhu Beach. Mumbai. India. 2017. “I had no idea whether people would be willing to make these pictures when I came to Mumbai,” Arthur says. “It was interesting to see how people could be relaxed, how much bolder people were than we thought they’d be. There was a real readiness to be out there.”