A Trip to the Photo Studio – Memories from 1980s Madurai
In the days before the digital camera revolution, photo studios were among the most popular destinations for capturing individual and family memories. Owning a film camera was still a luxury for many Indian households until the late 1980s. So, if you wanted a photograph, you went to a studio — and it was an outing in itself! There were no selfies, no retakes at the touch of a button, and certainly no option to delete an embarrassing expression before anyone saw it.
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| Chitra studio, proof copy 10 June 1977 |
The "untouched proof" miniature photo needs to be first approved and returned to Studio by clients. Only then the studio prints or frames the final copies in those days !
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| Final print - Chitra studio 1977 |
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| Me and my brother, Chitra Studio 1982 |
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| Family portrait 1976 |
Christian weddings had their own photographic tradition. Immediately after the church ceremony, the newlyweds would head to a photo studio to have their wedding portrait taken, just before the evening reception. It was almost as essential as the wedding cake! And who can forget the iconic childhood portrait of a little boy or girl sitting stiffly on a wire chair? Almost every household seemed to have one proudly displayed in a frame. The child might have grown up, moved away, and started a family of their own, but that wire chair remained frozen in time!
Visits by close relatives from distant places were another perfect excuse for a studio session. After all, if relatives had travelled all that distance, surely the occasion deserved photographic evidence!
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| Visit of my grandmother and Vannan Chinnanga (Dad's youngest brother) from Madras, 1982 - Rasi studio |
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| Passport size for School- Rasi studio 1991 |
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| Chella kumar, photo for bus pass, Chitra studio,1988 |
Growing up in Karimedu during the 1980s, I remember a few popular neighbourhood studios: Rasi Studio, Chitra Studio, Vasuki Studio, and, perhaps during the latter part of the decade, Garudan Studios. These were familiar landmarks where countless family milestones, childhood memories, and wedding moments were immortalised on film.
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| Rasi studio 2025 |
Of these, Rasi Studio has remarkably survived in its original location near Ramanpettai ( opp to railway colony gate) even today. I remember people saying that it was established in the 1960s — which means it has witnessed generations of Madurai residents growing from wire-chair toddlers into proud parents and grandparents! Garudan Studios has also survived, although it operates from a different location today. Chitra studio has long vanished from new jail road.
Looking back, those studios did much more than take photographs. They preserved our family histories, one carefully posed picture at a time. The photographer controlled the lighting, the pose, and the moment we were allowed to smile. We, meanwhile, had one important responsibility: to sit still, look dignified, and resist the temptation to blink just when the shutter clicked!
