Mamta Studio

Mamta Studio has been sitting here at Mohanganj Chowk in Tarapur for a very long time now. If you ever walk past the main chowk, you’ll see our small sign hanging out front. It’s mostly just me working here, and sometimes I have a helper when things get a bit too much. We take photos for the local people, mostly just simple shots for their ID cards or maybe some family pictures when there’s a big wedding or a birthday party happening nearby. The studio itself is kept pretty simple. I’ve got a couple of different backdrops, usually just a plain blue one and a white one, and some lights that I have to move around manually depending on the time of day and the sunlight. The floor has a lot of scuffs and marks from all the thousands of people who’ve stood there over the years. I spend a lot of my time sitting at the computer after everyone leaves, trying to make sure the prints look okay before I hand them over to the customers. It’s a small place, so it can get quite hot in the afternoons when the sun hits the front. I really like seeing the families come in all dressed up in their best clothes. Sometimes the little kids cry because they’re scared of the bright camera flashes, so we keep some small snacks nearby to help quiet them down. It’s not a big fancy photography business. I’ve lived in Tarapur all my life and know most faces.