Vintage cameras take centrestage

Dr AVArun always had a passion for vintage objects like brass antiques, rare World War II medals, old lamps, projectors, miniature liquor bottles and more such items. The passion for cameras started in 1997 when he came across two damaged Yashica TLR cameras at a flea market in Chennai. He got both of them for Rs 300 and out of interest dismantled one of them to understand its mechanism.

Slowly this interest grew and he started to go through the history of these cameras and found it fascinating. As time went by, he picked up cameras from here and there and by 2000, he owned 300 vintage cameras. 

“I started archiving vintage cameras. Everyone in my neighbourhood knew about my passion. So they provided information about the availability of vintage cameras, they came across from time to time. By 2013 I had ample camera pieces and decided to exhibit them in a museum. After finalising the venue and other logistics, I decided to go for it. 

Cinematographer PC Sreeram inaugurated my museum on January 2016. Now I have nearly 1,800 cameras, collected over a period of 20 years, in my museum,” says Dr. Arun. Other than cameras, the collection also includes 8mm and 16 mm movie projectors, vintage printing equipment, lighting equipment, print processing equipment, light meters, film plates, film rolls, glass plates etc.  There is a collection of books right from 1932 onwards and also vintage encyclopedia of photography. 

Whenever Dr AVArun travels out of the city or the country, he visits flea markets, old camera dealers and camera collectors and interacts with them and gets some good cameras from them. 

“I also got some cameras from auctions. Quite a few of the cameras are from friends, relatives, patients and colleagues who either sold them or donated their old ones, knowing my passion for them,” he shares. Many times people not known to Dr AV Arun call him up and express their desire to donate an old camera to him.  This is mainly because the camera probably has an emotional attachment to them and they do not want to throw it out or give it to a trader, who would sell it for profit. 

He recollects, “In 1999 an 80-year-old lady called up one night and told me that she had an old camera that she wanted to donate to my collection.  On reaching her house, I was presented with a Grey Yashica B TLR camera, which was absolutely unused. 

I was informed by the lady that the camera was presented to her by her husband, who was no more, on the day that he proposed to her and she had kept it very safe since that day and had never ever used it. This Yashica camera is considered as one of the rarest from their range.” The museum also has a lecture hall for photography classes and also a shop which sells a variety of products.