Indian Minute Camera Photographers

Indian Minute Camera Photographers explores the life-journeys of four photographers in New Delhi, Jaipur and Pushkar.

Minute cameras were once widely used in all corners of India providing on-the-spot black and white images for identity cards or souvenir photography in parks, holy sites, tourist spots, and a plethora of street-side pitches.

In general, the story of the minute camera photographer has largely been forgotten in the history books as their work primarily catered to a cliental that could not afford the more prestigious and well documented studio photographs.

Their cameras, built by carpenters and repaired ad-hoc, also do not fit in our world of manufacturing and classification, one reason, no doubt for the lack of attention it received from museums and collectors. Nevertheless, they documented the aspirations of millions of Indians for decades and reveal a wealth of personal stories from across the social spectrum.

The minute camera photographers in this book, Bharat Bhushan Mahajan, Teekam Chand Pahari, Surendar Kumar Pahari, and Kinshan Chand Hemlani are amongst the last practitioners on the sub-continent whose records immerse us in the long-standing practice of minute camera photography in India as a personal and lived art.