A laundry worker poses proudly in Mahalaxmi, Mumbai, where the biggest open laundromat in the world is located. Founded in 1890, more than 730 dhobis and their families live and work in the laundry colony, washing what they brag to be an average of 1 million articles of clothing per day. The area extends across several city blocks and comprises an interlocking series of winding alleys, workrooms and semi-covered subsections of aluminum siding.

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, 2005