Rare snapshots: A captivating peek into Mumbai's 1970s red-light district

Editors Note: These images were captured by Mary Ellen Mark 45 years ago, at a time when there were not as strict standards for privacy and photographing vulnerable people, especially children, as there are today. Mary Ellen Mark was haunted by her experiences on Falkland Road.

Renowned for her ability to make subjects feel at ease, the late American photographer initially struggled to connect with people in Mumbai's notorious red-light district. Describing her experiences in the foreword to her 1981 book "Falkland Road, Prostitutes of Bombay," she recalled being met with hostility and aggression during her attempts to capture the city in the late 1960s. The women threw garbage and water, men gathered around her, and she even fell victim to theft and assault. As a result, she admitted that she was unable to take many quality photographs during her early visits to the city.

Falkland Roads infamous cages, where sex workers were displayed to passersby and potential customers.

Mary Ellen Mark's book, which features over 70 of her images, gained global recognition for shedding light on the challenges faced by sex workers who were exploited by pimps and madams, subjected to violence, and at risk of disease. In a 1987 interview with the New York Times magazine, Mark explained that the book was intended to serve as a metaphor for the struggles and entrapment faced by women.

Meredith Lue, president of the Mary Ellen Mark Foundation, explained via video call to CNN that the photographer, who had a challenging family life in her youth, was drawn to and connected with people in vulnerable situations.

Lue added that Mark often sought out small communities of people, usually women or young people who had been neglected or overlooked. She also mentioned that this was likely the reason Mark was drawn to the Falkland Road sex workers. Lue emphasized that many of these women did not have families, but they formed their own support systems and sisterhood.

Nepalese sex workers waiting for customers at one of Falkland Roads brothels.

Mary Ellen Mark

Friends in low places

In 1978, Mark returned to Falkland Road. The night before commencing her six-week-long assignment for GEO magazine (a German monthly much like National Geographic), she had a dream where she was a voyeur hiding behind a bed, observing three sex workers making love. She woke up "somewhat reassured," Mark continues in her foreword. "Perhaps my dream was a good sign."

During the 1978 trip, the initial experience was familiar: Enduring insults and garbage thrown at her as she walked along the road. However, as time passed, Marks' presence began to intrigue people, leading to invitations inside.

First, Mark was befriended by the less inhibited street sex workers, often meeting at the Olympia Café, a favored spot for the girls. "I spent hours there, drinking tea and listening to Qawwali (Sufi Islamic verses) and Hindi film songs on the jukebox," wrote Mark, who passed away in 2015 at the age of 75. Her initial companions were Asha and Mumtaz, both aged 17, and 15-year-old Usha.

dedicated 10 years of her life to capturing images on Falkland Road, despite facing harassment and intimidation. Take a look at some of the compelling photographs featured in the reissued book "Falkland Road: Prostitutes of Bombay" by the late photojournalist.

Several times a day the madam and her girls have tea, which is brought in from cafes and vendors on the street.

Mary Ellen Mark

A young woman and her customer photographed by Mary Ellen Mark.

Mary Ellen Mark

Nepalese girls waiting for customers at one of Falkland Road's brothels.

Mary Ellen Mark

Late afternoon on Falkland Road.

Mary Ellen Mark

Trans sex workers getting dressed in a courtyard.

Mary Ellen Mark

Falkland Road's infamous cages, where sex workers were displayed to passersby and potential customers.

Mary Ellen Mark

In her book, Mark reveals that the girls frequently use powder to achieve a lighter skin tone, as they consider it more beautiful. She also recalls being questioned about her preference for photographing dark-skinned girls.

Mary Ellen Mark

Nepalese girls taking an afternoon nap.

Mary Ellen Mark

Two girls sit with their arms around each other.

Mary Ellen Mark

Early morning in the Olympia Café.

Mary Ellen Mark

The mirror reflects a young woman and a child. Throughout the day, the women occupy themselves in their rooms, sleeping, sewing, playing with the children, and cooking on the floor. Mark remarked, "It is all very reminiscent of typical Indian family life."

Mary Ellen Mark

In pictures: Vintage photos from Mumbai's notorious Falkland Road

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Mark described Asha as the most beautiful girl she had ever seen. Asha, an orphan, had a boyfriend who was a local pickpocket and frequently in and out of jail. Mark shared, "Once Asha disappeared for four days. I found out that she had been arrested for soliciting. I got one of the local men to bail her out." Whenever Mark was on Falkland Road at dawn, she would see Asha curled up with one of the other girls, asleep on the street. "I would wait until 8 a.m., then I would wake her, and we would have tea."

Women who solicited customers alone were often arrested and jailed if they didn't have a madam or pimp to pay their fine. They were also frequently hungry, sick with fevers, or had abusive pickpocket boyfriends who mistreated them and took their money. "These girls only have one another; they form close friendships and are very protective of each other," Mark wrote.

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Asha, she said, hated being a sex worker but did not know how else to survive.

The photographer noted that the girl aspired to be a servant, mentioning that her friends said their other servants would not accept her. Within the community, her main confidante was Champa, a transgender madam who introduced her to the sex workers at the brothel, including eunuchs, and allowed her to take photos of them preparing for the evening.

Trans sex workers getting dressed in a courtyard.

Mary Ellen Mark encountered the most difficult group to connect with on Falkland Road: the "cage girls." These women were displayed in small roadside rooms with barred windows and often faced abuse and ridicule from both customers and other sex workers. Despite their outrageous and obscene poses to attract customers, they were incredibly vulnerable and considered low class even among their peers.

Equally fierce were the madams who fiercely protected their girls, a former sex worker running a brothel in Mumbai, kidnapped from her village in South India at age 12 and later opening her own brothel after much struggle. When Mark and her husband returned years later, the woman appeared frail and they believed it was due to AIDS, as the global HIV/AIDS epidemic began in 1981.

Mark formed strong bonds with her subjects during her six-week shoot for GEO magazine, making it difficult to bid farewell when the time came. In a poignant moment, Saroja presented her with a large garland of flowers, and tearful goodbyes were exchanged. As she departed, women bid her farewell from their windows, and some came out to shake her hand. Mark vividly remembered Champa, the trans madam, asking her to send a wig from America, promising to think of her every time she wore it. During her final tea at the Olympia Café, Usha, Asha, and other friends consoled her as she cried, with Asha encouraging her to leave with her head held high. As Mark left, Asha walked her to find a taxi and reminded her not to forget about her.

Several times each day the madam and her girls have tea, which is brought in from cafes and vendors on the street.

Mary Ellen Mark

Hidden in plain sight

Lue, working with the Mary Ellen Mark Foundation, is dedicated to sharing untold stories through the republishing and exhibiting of over 60,000 images from the photographer's collection. A retrospective of her work, including images from Falkland Road, is currently being displayed in Berlin, Germany until mid-January. "She was drawn to stories from the edge...people you dont know about,"said Bell, Marks husband, told CNN. He added, "She was able to bring those stories to a wider understanding in society. I think thats a great thing that she did."

Lue also finds the magic of Mark's photography in its ability to bridge the gap between society's fringes and the everyday. Her favorite images from Falkland Road aren't the explicit ones; they capture everyday moments and connections. "I'm most drawn to the photos of young women getting ready for work, or living their lives," Lue said. "Their youth and humor stands out, even in a tragic community." The photo of male intimacy in 1980s India was more subversive than it appears.

The photojournalist compassionately captured the humanity of marginalized communities, both in India and around the world. She formed friendships and sought to understand the lives of people living on society's fringes, from street children in Seattle to the patients of Ward 81 in the Oregon State Mental Institution. Despite the widespread recognition of her images, her work continues to stir the age-old question in photojournalism: Are photographers like her exploiting the less fortunate for the sake of art?

In 1987, when asked by the New York Times magazine, Mary Ellen Mark questioned whether the poor should be overlooked. She stated that many of her subjects willingly posed for her because they wanted to finally be seen. Additionally, she emphasized that she never photographed anyone without their consent.

But she was keenly aware of the dilemmas, telling the Times, "I thought, How can I live with myself?…. But you feel you have to do it," she said, reflecting on her time capturing the plight of starving individuals during the Ethiopian famine of the mid-1980s.

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The updated "Falkland Road: Prostitutes of Bombay," released by Steidl, is now accessible.