Aruns Studio & Colorlab

Our studio is right on MG Road in Pallimukku, which is always busy with traffic. We’ve been here in Kochi for a long time, and the lab has seen a lot of changes from the old film days to everything being digital now. Usually, the shop smells a bit like paper and printers. We spend a lot of time sitting behind the counter editing photos or helping someone get a passport picture done quickly before they catch a bus. It’s a loud area with all the cars outside, but inside we just focus on the prints. Sometimes people bring in old, dusty photos they found in a drawer, wanting to see if we can make them look clear again. We don't have a big corporate setup. It’s just the same few faces here every day. We have the lights set up in the back for portraits, and sometimes it gets a bit crowded when a whole family comes in for a group shot. It’s funny how people get nervous in front of a lens, so we try to just talk to them normally. We’ve got the old machines and the new ones too. It isn't always perfect, and sometimes a printer jams right when we’re in a hurry, but that’s just how it goes. We like being part of the street here. You see everyone walking by Pallimukku, and eventually, most of them end up needing a photo for something. It is just the way we like to work.