In your neighbourhood | Camera Gully: Where Mumbaikars once learned to buy a camera

Years later, when she bought her first new camera, she returned to the same lane.

“This is the first shop where I bought a fresh camera,” she said, standing inside Vibgyor Photos. “After coming here, would you want to go anywhere else? No.”

Central Camera Company, established in 1932 and now shut, anchored the gully as it grew into one of India’s key hubs for cameras, film, and processing. Traders, professionals, and hobbyists came from across the country when such equipment wasn’t available elsewhere.

“From all over India people used to come here. Bombay was a port, this was the market,” said Rajdeep Ved of Vibgyor Photos, established in 1959 and among the oldest shops still running. “Everybody had their own client base, and we used to guide people.”

A shop in Mumbai’s Camera Gully (Express Photo by Akash Patil)

Buying a camera was rarely quick. Customers spent time in shops, discussing what they wanted to shoot, understanding the equipment, often learning the basics before buying.

“If somebody comes to me, they don’t say give me the camera, they say give me a camera,” Ved said. “I need to understand what they’re going to shoot, then I suggest a camera.”

That exchange built relationships. “People need to know why they are buying a product. I don’t want you to buy it and keep it in the cupboard idle. I would rather not sell,” he said.

The gully’s ecosystem reflected this. Shops handled film processing, printing and repairs, guiding customers through workflows.

“We had everything here, black and white film, colour film, darkrooms. We were one of the biggest collection centres when Kodak was there,” he said. “The first floor was a full studio, the first air conditioned studio in India.”

A short walk from CST in Fort, Camera Gully in Jivaji Lane, Mumbai. (Express Photo by Akash Patil)

Over time, that culture shifted. As camera brands expanded and online platforms made equipment accessible, fewer people traveled to Camera Gully.

“Now everywhere there is a franchise store. So the upcountry client base is finished,” Ved said.

The way cameras are sold changed too. “Customers need advice. No store guy wants to give advice now. They just want to sell products,” he said.

At Janta Photo Store, established in 1970, Imesh Shah remembers a similar past. “From all over India people used to come and buy here. This was the only market,” he said.

The shop now deals only in analog cameras. “Digital prices keep dropping. It becomes unpredictable for business, so it’s better to focus on products where the value is stable.”

The customers today are different.

Camera Gully, Mumba. (Express Photo by Akash Patil)

“Customers are not coming to upgrade to DSLRs anymore. The kind we get now are mostly amateurs, and youngsters coming for analog cameras. This is happening all over the world, the demand has changed, people are coming back to older cameras instead,” Shah said.

There’s also demand for older digital devices. “The younger generation has started asking for point and shoot cameras which are discontinued,” Ved said. “Those retro ones from 10 to 15 years back.”

Even as these trends bring new customers, Lobo’s experience shows how selective that comfort can be.

“There are only a few shops where I can go freely, sit and talk,” she said. “The rest, I don’t know, or I don’t know if they judge me. What the gully used to be is not seen anymore.”