Gurugram may be an urban nightmare, but it now has 18,000 sq ft. Photography Museum, India’s first crowd-funded venture
August is the rainy season on a Sunday and people are thronging a popular restaurant along the posh Golf Course street in Gurugram. Not unusual for Gurugram, only this restaurant is inside South Asia’s largest non-profit photography museum. Museo Camera, Center for the Photographic Arts, India’s first crowd-funded museum, free and paid libraries, lectures, photography exhibitions, unusual items made from camera parts, kaleidoscope for those not just into foodies , offers instant photography sessions and. Of course, lessons in contemporary history.
So what is the need of this huge museum dedicated to cameras and photography? How does a camera have any relevance in an age when everyone has a camera with them at all times? The brilliant answer to this, of course, comes from the stunning works of Reuters photographer Danish Siddiqui, who was executed in Afghanistan earlier this year.
Photo: Aditya Arya Archive
“At one time a photograph was admissible as evidence in court. Now, this needs to be verified as it could have been manipulated by software,” says Aditya Arya, the advertising man and visual historian who has created this unique 18,000 sq ft. The museum through a public-private partnership with the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram.
It is a wonderful place, with the history of photography on display on the wall text and over 2,500 cameras and other photographic equipment that were on display in the 1850s. Written history makes it clear that countries and genders were not discriminated against in photography.
camera Obscura
The Greek mathematicians Aristotle and Euclid independently described a camera obscura in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, and in the 6th century CE, the Byzantine mathematician Anthemius of Tralles used a type of camera obscura in his experiments.
The Arab physicist Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) (965–1040 AD) also invented a camera obscura as well as the first true pinhole camera, and is considered the origin of the modern camera.
Photo: Aditya Arya Archive
This museum traces the history of photography from the 1830s to the digital age. It was only in the 1830s that the first photograph to include people – the ‘view of the Boulevard du Temple’, a daguerreotype – was made by Louis Daguerre. By the 1840s, the camera had arrived in India with the earliest photographs taken during the Second Anglo-Sikh War by John McCosh, an army surgeon with the East India Company. The museum has rooms dedicated to the use of the camera obscura during the Renaissance, and pinned cameras, camera obscura, camera lucida and wet plate cameras. We also see photographic equipment, including the first magnesium flash for Magic Lantern projectors from the 17th century as well as the K20s used during WWII, the $1 Brownie cameras that revolutionized photography, and even Kodak , Yashika, and the camera include my father. Went back 200km to buy back from the factory because it took such great pictures, Agfa Karat 36.
Photo: Aditya Arya Archive
iconic pictures
The collection is actually created from the archives of renowned photographer Kulwant Roy, who was responsible for many iconic images of the Indian independence movement. Roy leaves his negatives and archives on Arya, who has been a family friend and Roy’s apprentice since the age of 12. Arya, who went on to become a successful photographer, realized that Roy’s collection, which had been in boxes for more than 25 years, had been forgotten. After his death, was priceless. From the 1930s to the 1960s, this made for a rare and valuable visual collection, including several unpublished images of Muslim League meetings, the INA trials, the signing of the constitution, as well as important post-independence milestones such as the construction of Bhakra. is included. Nangal Dam.
Photo: Aditya Arya Archive
talks and exhibitions
Arya himself was fond of cameras and photography related objects from around the world. Soon, he had to rent some basements to store it all. Then, he partnered with the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram, which gave him a disused badminton court to house the collection.
Arya was there every day to oversee the construction of the museum, work on a shoestring budget, and read every book available on the museum’s design. It gets an ultraviolet air purifier, automatic lights and foot-operated doors. They have digitization, archiving and archival printing services. He does Saibal Das, Wasvo X Vasvo, Prabir Purkayastha, Randhir Mehra, curated walks on the lot and holds a stream of exhibitions. Drish Academy hosts workshops on everything from photography to salt prints and cyanotypes on campus.
Photo: Aditya Arya Archive
Unfortunately, as soon as the Museo camera was launched, the pandemic hit. Now, the crowd is back, albeit at the restaurant – a fact that Arya has to make her peace with.
“What a museum contributes,” he says. “It enhances the livability. Children can study and spend time here. Every municipality and government should compulsorily create such spaces and individuals and small organizations need to be involved. Not that difficult” .
Gurugram has 1.2 million people and five museums. I saw two young girls enjoying a kaleidoscope placed in the lobby as they wait for a table in the restaurant; Later, I see two other girls discuss freedom and photographs with Arya in the exhibition area. baby steps…
The author is the author of a fantasy series, and specializes in the arts and culture of Southeast Asia.
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