Yash Sheth's Monsoon Project Captures

Mumbai-based photographer Yash Sheth has spent five years documenting his city, with a particular focus on India's monsoon season since 2021. His ongoing series, Varsha Ritu, meaning "rain season" in Sanskrit, captures the mercurial weather's moments of tenderness, beauty, and fear, according to a report from Dazed Digital on August 27, 2026.

Sheth, a trained engineer, began photography casually with a cheap DSLR camera while still a student. After three years working in fibre-optic cable installation, he left to pursue photography full-time, walking through Mumbai daily to capture whatever caught his eye. His documentary style leans experimental and surreal, featuring crowded compositions and an attentive use of light, sometimes employing an intense flash even under Mumbai's glaring sun.

An Evolving Focus on Climate

Initially, the monsoon project aimed to capture the beauty of Mumbai in the rain, full of umbrellas and saturated colours. After years of observation, Sheth's focus has broadened. The project is now a study of the Indian monsoon, climate change, and its impact on people across the country. He documents low-lying, flood-prone neighbourhoods in Mumbai where heavy rainfall forces families to relocate or leaves homes waterlogged for days.

Sheth has also traveled beyond Mumbai to agricultural communities. He notes that climate change has delayed monsoons, and when rain arrives, it is intense and can cause flooding. He tries to document how farmers whose crops depend on predictable rainfall have been impacted.

A Methodical and Personal Practice

Sheth's process has become obsessive. He studies meteorology to better understand weather patterns and uses the Indian Meteorological Department website to track rain predictions. He then takes local trains to specific areas of Mumbai to wait for the rain to begin. He describes moving with the clouds.

His practice is deeply personal. Sheth does not hide while taking photographs. He speaks to his subjects, respects their influence on the image, and shares the final photos with them via WhatsApp if they wish. He returns to some villages frequently, where families know him and invite him for lunch. He considers these people friends, stating the project has built a bridge to connect with strangers.

Sheth refers to The Monsoon Project as a tree with many branches. While photography is one branch, he is also interested in writing, research, and archiving the stories of communities shaped by the monsoon. His work is primarily shared on his Instagram account.