Inside A 65-Year Camera Collection From Kolkata

For 65 years, Tapas Kumar Basu has preserved the technological evolution of photography through an extraordinary camera collection in Kolkata. It began with the discovery of his grandfather’s trunk filled with cameras, pocket watches, fountain pens, glass negatives and coins.

His maternal uncle was the royal photographer for the Mahishadal estate 150 years ago, travelling through forests and mountains to document hunting expeditions. The collection’s significance extends beyond personal nostalgia. When filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh needed a wooden box plate camera to depict Rabindranath Tagore’s 1883 wedding for a documentary, only Basu’s collection had one. The same camera used in Tagore’s era now sits preserved among hundreds of others.

His message is simple: print photographs and preserve them in albums. Digital files can be deleted, but printed memories survive for generations.

Reporter/camera: Sandipan Chatterjee
Editor: Sudhanshu

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