Hamilton Studios: A 98-year-old Ballard Estate studio still taking portraits the old way

Ajita Madhavji adjusts an antique large-format camera at Hamilton Studios, a portrait studio founded in 1928 and now run by her.(Express Photo by Akash Patil)

“We usually take just one photograph. That’s it. Sometimes it takes 45 minutes just to take that one picture,” she said. “Everything has to be right before the camera clicks the lighting, the pose and the way the person sits.”

The studio traces its origins to 1928, when businessman Sir Victor Sassoon built the E.D. Sassoon Building in Ballard Estate. Hamilton Studios later became known for portrait photography and gradually built a reputation in the city.

Ranjit Madhavji took over the studio in the mid-1950s. One of his most recognised works is a portrait of Dr B.R. Ambedkar that continues to be displayed in several government offices across the country.

Over the decades, the studio has photographed a wide range of people, from prominent personalities to ordinary residents of the city.

Ajita recalls a recent client, a tarot reader, who believed he did not look good in photographs. She arranged the portrait using a simple setting his tarot cards placed on a table, a shawl draped across it and a candle for lighting.

Vintage photographs, equipment and portrait displays inside Hamilton Studios, which has been operating in Ballard Estate for nearly a century. (Express Photo by Akash Patil)

“He kept telling me he was not photogenic. When he saw the portrait, he looked at it for a long time and said, ‘I’ve never seen myself like this before.’” Ajita said.

For Ajita, the process is about observing the person rather than rushing the shot. “It’s about the essence of the person you’re photographing. “You have to wait until they stop posing and become comfortable.” she said.

While the studio now uses digital cameras, much of the process remains unchanged. The lighting equipment used by her father is still in use today, and the photographs are taken manually without digital corrections.

“I don’t use Lightroom at all. If something needs to be corrected, it has to be corrected while taking the photograph itself.” she says.

The studio also houses a large archive of historical photographs and negatives built over decades. According to Ajita, the collection contains more than six lakh negatives.

These include portraits of bishops, dignitaries and prominent families, along with photographs documenting parts of Mumbai’s history, including early images of the Taj Mahal Hotel and the Willingdon Club.

Ajita Madhavji demonstrates an old photographic printing press at Hamilton Studios, which houses an archive of more than six lakh negatives. (Express Photo by Akash Patil)

Hamilton Studios has recently begun the process of organising and preserving this archive. The effort received support from the British Library, which selected the studio for a grant to help catalogue and document its collection.

Ajita says the aim is to preserve not just the photographs but also the craft behind them. “We want younger photographers to see how portraits were made earlier the lighting, the paper and the way the photographs were printed,” she said.

Nearly a century after it began operations, Hamilton Studios continues to work from the same location in Ballard Estate, maintaining a slower and more deliberate approach to portrait photography. “The camera and lights are only tools. The real subject is always the person in front of the lens.” Ajita says.

Sanhita Mitra is an intern with The Indian Express.