Museo Camera, Gurugram || India's first not-for-profit, crowd-funded Center for Photographic Art

A visit to Museo Camera, a museum dedicated to the history of cameras and photography, was long pending. Ever since it opened in the beginning of this year, VJ and I had talked often about it. Museo Camera, India's first not-for-profit, crowd-funded Center for Photographic Art, is an inspiring story in itself. Aditya Arya's years of hard work, dedication, and passion to the field of photography have culminated in the creation of this magical space.

Address:

MUSEO CAMERA

Shri Ganesh Mandir Marg, DLF Phase IV, Sector 28, Gurugram, Haryana 122002

Gurgaon, Haryana 122001

M: +91 8287814216

The museum, earlier located in the basement of Aditya Arya's home, has now shifted to this beautiful building that is a fine specimen of strong, industrial architecture. Built around a mesh of sturdy, exposed iron beams, the museum is a sight to behold. And we have not even started talking about the content yet.

Located in one of the prime addresses of Gurgaon, DLF Phase 4, Museo Camera houses over 1500 cameras and 100s of other photography equipment such as apertures, light meters, artificial lighting equipment from various eras and was created through citizen funding. One of the most remarkable galleries in the museum is the one that covers the history of photography spanning across more than 200 years and a history of cameras.

The gallery starts with a prototype of Camera Obscura. The word Camera Obscura is latin and literally means the dark room. Mr Arya told us the that the word Camera was earlier spelled with a "K". So it was "Kamera". The urdu word "kamra" probably has the same origin. Languages are really interesting, aren't they?

Anyhow, the original Camera Obscura used to be as large as a room. The one in the Museum is a small box just to demonstrate how the original equipment used to work. Basically the basis is a natural optical phenomenon known as the pinhole image. When a scene outside a tent or a wall is projected on the otherside through a small opening, it appears reversed. This kind of a projection was earlier used for creating sketches and to study solar eclipse without damaging the eyes.

Then you come across the founding fathers of photography - Nicéphore Niépce, Louis-Jacques Mandé Daguerre, Sir John Hershel, and Louis Daguerre. You start with how Niepce created the first photograph and then learn about Dagerreotype, the photography technique created by Louis-Jacques Mande Daguerre. You find out how photography was so named, and then how the art of creating negatives was developed to ensure that photographs could be reproduced.

You walk along a huge wall that talks about the history of photography and the major contributors. Not only do you learn about the dates and pioneering companies such as Kodak, you also see several original photographs clicked by some very old cameras. You find out about photographers who have made significant contributions to the world of photography.

If you look closely, you will also find treasures such as original old advertisements and how they have evolved. You come across cameras of various shapes and sizes. You also see a hint of how studios were set up earlier. Another interesting fact that Mr Arya shared with us was about the portraits that were clicked during Victorian times. Mr. Arya has sourced them from auctions, flea markets, etc over the years.

If you have seen some of these portraits you would notice the lack of smiles and a passive expression in the subjects. The reason for that was that at those times, since aperture was very small, the exposure needed to be larger and as a result slightest of movements would blur the images. Therefore subjects were asked to strike a natural pose that would be easy to hold for 15 seconds or so.

The ground floor houses this interesting gallery and a shop from where you can buy mementos. There's also a cafe, called "fig at museo" that serves some delicious looking food, which we were unfortunately not able to sample today. But it looks like a cool and relaxed space.

The first floor houses exhibition halls where currently the Aravalli series is on display. Photographers can rent the space for their exhibitions here. It is a fairly large space and the infrastructure too is good. The place also gets good footfall from the right kind of audience.

The second floor has a classroom/conference hall where one can organize workshops or talks or other events. Apparently, there are four such spaces in the building. There's also a small library here where you can sit and read. You cannot rent out the books yet. That is still being figured out. In this space, amateur photographers can also put their work up for display and even sell it to walk-in customers.

Apart from this all, there's an amazing sign here that says "Photography is strictly allowed". It is such a warm and friendly place. Coming to the ticketing aspect of it, you need to pay Rs 200 per person, unless you are a founding member. We became founding members during the initial rounds of crowd sourcing. You can still become one. The information is available at the front desk.

Mr Aditya Arya has always been an inspiring person for us. We have followed his journey as a photographer very closely. Apart from that, we also visited his farm in the Aravallis where he has built a stone cottage all by himself. He was also at the helm of the Aravalli exhibition that was an attempt to put forth the plight of the Aravalli Ecosystem. And now Museo Camera. Mr Arya says that he is always working on something in parallel that may convert into something substantial in the long run. I think that is what sets him apart. And that is what makes him a visionary.

The above photograph is of an original ad that Mr Arya got from a newspaper. Note that the word "photograph" is missing. This is because the word wasn't coined back then.