ADVERTISEMENT

Meet Tanvir Ahmed, Kolkata’s most-beloved camera-seller

Tanvir’s The Camera Shoppe in Dharmatala is a focal point for the city’s shutterbugs

Vedant Karia Published 02.01.25, 05:26 PM
Tanvir Ahmed at his camera shop in Kolkata Dharmatala

‘Ye shauk nahi, jaan hai hamari (this isn’t a hobby, but my life)’ is how Tanvir Ahmed describes the camera trade All photos by Soumyajit Dey

Since 1986, Tanvir Ahmed has been behind millions of breathtaking pictures. He isn’t a photographer. He sells cameras.

If Kolkata is a photographer’s paradise, Moti Sil Street in Dharmatala is like a holy spot. While the lane has dozens of camera shops crammed together, Tanvir’s The Camera Shoppe always manages to stand out.

ADVERTISEMENT

My Kolkata visited the shop and spoke to Tanvir to know more about this iconic Kolkata shop.

The role of fate

“Growing up, I was never fond of cameras. In fact, we didn’t even have a camera at home. The first camera in my family — a Yashica Mat 124, Medium Format — was owned by my uncle.” His eyes light up as he remembers the device, courting poetry about its ‘fully metal tripod’. “I never got to use it myself, but would watch him use it. I hadn’t seen anything like that before,” he says.

However, selling cameras was never the plan for Tanvir. As he puts it, it was taqdir (fate) that got him his first job at a camera store in Fancy Market, which in the 1980s was a hub for photography. “It was very difficult to get into this field without any prior experience. I would read through extremely thick booklets so that I could connect with customers. Some camera booklets were in Russian, so there was the added challenge of getting them translated!” he laughs, recalling the beginning.

After six years of working and learning everything he could about cameras, he finally decided to start his own business in 1986. It was a small shop in Fancy Market, with just eight camera models and an inventory of 25 pieces. “At the time, you could enter the camera business with very little investment. Cameras from this Soviet company, Zenit, started as low as Rs 800, while the more advanced models from Pentax sold for Rs 2,800. If I told someone today that I opened a camera shop with just Rs 80,000 they wouldn’t believe me,” he says, smiling.

Finding his passion

After saving up for over five years, Tanvir opened his own camera shop in 1986 at Fancy Market, with an investment of Rs 80,000

After saving up for over five years, Tanvir opened his own camera shop in 1986 at Fancy Market, with an investment of Rs 80,000 Courtesy Tanvir Ahmed

Tanvir confesses that he never saw the camera beyond work until he started his business. While setting up shop, he went beyond booklets and started taking apart new models to learn about features. That’s when he started truly understanding the obsession people had with photography. “People started showing me the pictures they clicked, and it made me see photography as an art for the first time. I finally bought my first camera — a Toshiba — in 1987. Tab pata chala, kuch toh baat hai isme (that is when I realised that there was something special about this),” he says, beaming. Soon the Toshiba was replaced by an Olympus OM-1, followed by the Nikon FM2, which turned into the Nikon F801. Today, Tanvir wields cameras by Fujifilm, which he favours for their excellent colours.

By the early 1990s, word had spread about this shopkeeper who knew the ins and outs of a camera, and Kolkata’s shutterbugs began landing up at Tanvir’s. “Supratik Chatterjee and I met serendipitously when he came to the shop to buy a macro lens. We got along so well that he introduced me to veterans like Satyaki Ghosh, Vivek Das, and Nemai Ghosh (who worked extensively with Satyajit Ray). This opened even more doors, and I began selling cameras to industrialists like Harsh Neotia and Shashwat Goenka. Kaafi bade bade logon ko camera becha hai (I have sold cameras to a lot of big people),” says Tanvir.

The 1990s was also the time when photography had started to become more mainstream. “In the early ’90s, a photography club emerged, which would meet twice a week at Kalighat. It was like one big adda on photography,” he recounts.

Around 1996, big camera companies like Canon and Nikon started selling directly to consumers in India. This proved to be another turning point, as Tanvir established a close relationship with them, and began selling in record numbers. “I got certified from all companies, including Canon, Nikon and Sony for exceeding their targets. Selling cameras took me on business trips around the world, to Switzerland, England, Budapest, Prague, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Thailand and Singapore,” he beams while joking, “Can you guess who was the designated trip photographer?”

Roll to digital, passion to profession

Tanvir's The Camera Shoppe in Kolkata Dharmatala Moti Sil Street

Sensing the transition of photography hubs from Fancy Market to Dharamtala, he also moved to his present address at Moti Sil Street in 2009

Having been in the business for so long, he has also seen the transition from film to digital. Tanvir feels that there was a certain romantic beauty to the grains of the film cameras from when he started out, which are missing in today’s digital ones. The expensive cost of developing film has deterred even those who wish to buy them today from doing so. “Back then, cameras needed you to apply yourself to click a good picture. It was an art. Today’s cameras do everything for you and the quality of sensors has improved to such a level that one doesn’t even need to hone any skills to click a good picture. It is sad, because it curbs so much potential to play around limitations,” he sighs.

The other major transition that Tanvir has been privy to is the evolution of photography from a passion to a profession. In the age of content creators, he believes that cameras will be used more than ever before, to the point where almost everyone will need one in the near future. “Even if someone doesn’t have a job, parents can buy them a good camera on an EMI, and with photography, they can gain financial independence. Earlier, professional photography was restricted to wildlife and weddings, but now, we have vloggers coming to our shop every day. Today, a camera can feed a family.”

But will physical shops sustain in a world where online players are increasingly carving a monopoly? Tanvir grins at the question, before confidently replying, “They are only a problem during the 10-day Diwali sale. Apart from that, our rates are lower throughout the year.” At this, My Kolkata’s photographer chimes in, “Theek kotha. Ei camera kenar somoy o sob jayega te dekhechi. Tanvir da’r dokan sobcheye reasonable! (It is true! While buying my camera, I looked everywhere but Tanvir da’s shop had the most reasonable price!)

Tanvir Ahmed at his camera shop in Kolkata's Dharmatala

Today, a camera can feed a family, says Tanvir reflecting on the era of vloggers and content creators

As Tanvir looks back upon almost four decades of selling cameras, he reflects upon how much has changed in the field. “Back in the day, I could set up an entire shop for Rs 80,000. Today, just one good camera body can cost more than Rs 5 lakh. The thick booklets have been replaced by online forums where people from around the globe answer each other’s questions. But the sense of satisfaction after clicking a good picture remains the same.”

Follow us on:
ADVERTISEMENT