Article Profiles Dying Photo Profession: "The strange world of Jhatpat photo studios"


By Sanjay M Johri for merinews

It is around 11 a.m. Be it the busy court areas, Municipal Corporation, Housing Board or the office of the Lucknow Development Authority, you will these offices and the vicinity abuzz with the routine chorus.

People wait and try to get different types of work. And in most of the cases, especially near the court and Muncipal Corporation, one often requires a photograph, which a studio would take at least 24 hours to deliver or a Polaroid shot would cost you about Rs.100, for 10 photos.

Don’t worry, if your pocket does not allow you to avail the modern facility from the studios. Jhatpat studios offer an answer, especially the poor.

These nomadic lensmen may be seen around the court, Collectorate, the transport offices, and elsewhere with a promise to deliver the photos within 10 minutes--- three snaps for just Rs.15 or Rs. 20.

Jhatpat (instant) — can there be an epithet more befitting to the open-air, makeshift studios, with just a stool and an antiquated pedestal camera?

Read the full article.

PHOTO: This picture was clicked in Chhapaar da Mela (A rural festival) in Punjab, India, Copyright © 2004 Diwan Manna