Photo Studio in a Box

If you find yourself passing through the town of Mawana in Western UP, you might chance upon a roadside photo studio run by 32-year-old Naushad Khan, who charges Rs 50 for 42 passport-sized photos taken with an old-fashioned wooden bodied camera he claims is about 80 years old. With an exposure time of upto a minute, the subject must stay perfectly still to avoid a blurry image. An initial print of four passport-sized photos on a single sheet is produced, which is then copied several times over. The entire process of shooting and developing the photos takes 10- 15 minutes in all.

If you find yourself passing through the town of Mawana in Western UP, you might chance upon a roadside photo studio run by 32-year-old Naushad Khan, who charges Rs 50 for 42 passport-sized photos taken with an old-fashioned wooden bodied camera he claims is about 80 years old. With an exposure time of upto a minute, the subject must stay perfectly still to avoid a blurry image. An initial print of four passport-sized photos on a single sheet is produced, which is then copied several times over. The entire process of shooting and developing the photos takes 10- 15 minutes in all. It is unlikely that there are more than a handful of such cameras still in operation anywhere in the world; they are now generally regarded as antique collectibles

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About The Author

Raul Irani