India has a well-established and beloved history with painting, art and culture. In the 1990s, photography studios began to take over the art of storytelling. Since independence and even before the undivided India, many photo studios have been seen and witnessed.
Delhi being the capital holds the legacy of many such photo studios including the Mahatta and Co, Prem Studio and the Ashoka studio among many others. These studios today serve as a rich repository of the country’s history. As we ventured into the legacies of photography studios in Delhi, we began with the legendary Mahatta & Co situated in Central Delhi’s Connaught Place (CP) to the few remaining ones in the Esplanade Road in Old Delhi region’s Chandini Chowk.
Despite the new age technology taking over, customers still visit these studios due to the quality offered. Many of the studios have also shut down because of the shift to digital lab studios. While some of the remaining are on the edge of collapse due to the declining business, others have adapted new strategies to survive.
Mahatta & Co.
In the eloquence and legacy of Connaught place in New Delhi, is situated Mahatta & Co founded in 1915 by Madan Mahatta. It stands tall, redeeming its legacy over the M block surrounded by the Georgian-style buildings. Mahatta & Co established their very first venture on the Bund, an embankment of Jhelum in Srinagar, Kashmir. Its legacy dates back to the time before independence, when they operated a branch in what is now in Pakistans’ Rawalpindi. In CP, the studio came to life in 1947. It was the first one to bring negative to positive colour printing in India in 1954.
The studio preserves the antique cameras, which now sit silently in a corner but were once the lifeline of the business. Mahatta is now fully equipped with cutting-edge technological equipment, and in addition to portrait photography, it also offers commercial wedding photography.
Mahatta has scanned over lakhs of negatives and over a century old archival material which includes the famous evidence of operation of tram trains in Delhi. The Mahattas have also been the official photographers who photographed the Maharaja of Kashmir and King of Bhutan.
Madan Mahatta’s son Pawan Mahatta is the third generation carrying on this tradition of photography. In one of the photographs, he is holding the book containing the 100 years legacy of the studio.
Prem Studio & Ashoka Studio
Om Prakash Sharma’s Prem Studio and Ashoka Studio remain side by side on the Esplanade Road in the bustling streets of Chandini Chowk, which was formerly a hotbed of photographic studios. Esplanade Road is currently recognized for its shops that sell advanced photographic equipment.
Prem Studio, founded by Om Prakash Sharma, is one of the few old photographic studios that still exist. It is currently run by Ankit Sharma at the moment. The studio now consists of a single room space, occupied by photography umbrellas, frames and two computer systems. Despite the rise of digital photography, the walls at Prem Studio feature old-style photos. Perhaps as a remembrance of the treasured past.
Ashoka Studio was established in 1952, was the first colour photographic studio in Old Delhi. The studio is doing its best to meet modern day needs by offering wedding photography, designing, and printing. Deepak Gakhar and his cousin, the third generation in the lineage, voice their dissatisfaction with running the studio. “The studio business is diminishing and is not yielding enough; we don’t want our children to get into this”, they went on to say.
Prem Studio and Ashoka Studio used to be the hubs for passport and family photographs. In order to keep up with technology, they have recently expanded their services to include commercial and wedding photography. These photo studios have witnessed and chronicled the country’s history; acting as a testimony to the changing times.
