India's Tryst With Camera Manufacturing: In Post Covid times being self-reliant is the new buzz word, but when we hear about camera which are the brands that comes to our mind and are any of them Indian - perhaps the answer is NO
But a question lingered in my mind did India ever try to manufacture a camera?
In search of these question I stumbled upon a fascinating history which was right in the heart of the city of Joy – Kolkata and I thought let me share this with everyone.
So did India manufactured camera ? – the answer is YES it did.
National -35 sprinty c, this camera was manufactured by CSIR (Centre for scientific & industrial research) facility, National Instruments, at Calcutta. It retailed for Rs 780 in 1979.
So how it all started – well its long history that dates back to 1936 in Germany, The regulators factory King & Bauser GmbH , based in Bad Liebenzell was a manufacturer of cameras of the lower and middle price range.
The company was founded in Pforzheim in July 1936 by the King family and was known as King KG. In 1949 King KG published the prototype of its first camera, the 35mm camera Regula I.
The National Instruments Limited which was actually set up under the name of 'Mathematical Instrument Maker' in 1830 by George Everest, it was taken over by the Indian Government in 1957 and re-christened 'National Instruments'.
The new factory was built in Jadavpur, Calcutta. In 1977 National Instruments , after acquiring drawings, machines and spare parts from King KG, produced in Calcutta under license Regula cameras so one can say it was an acquired technology but manufactured in India.
1979 was the defining year in the history of Indian photography as 35mm Still camera manufactured in India by National Instruments was launched nationwide.
Then in 1984 Regula-Werk King & Bauser GmbH in Germany went bankrupt & in 1989 National Instruments was declared sick unit .Its majority of work force was dissolved.
Then finally in 2003 Production stopped In National instruments, remaining employees took VRS. The factory premises were abandoned and it was curtains down for an ambitious & spirited Effort over 2 decades
In 2009,Jadavpur University took over the factory premises to build a new campus.
The Media Lab of JU undertook a major documentation project on the closed National Instruments Limited factory in 2009.
More than ten photographers were commissioned by the Lab to create an extensive archive of stills and video over six months that produced floor by floor and room by room records of all the tools, objects and machines lying on the premises.
Testimonies of ex-employees, their personal belongings and other objects that made the place one of the most fascinating instances of industrial ruins.
Though the glory days of the National 35 camera were shortlived, the camera & its manufacturing played an important role in the history of photography in India.
Do watch this soulful documentary titled “Letters to Mother” on India’s only Camera Manufacturing Factory made by Jadavpur University’s Media Lab
As Berenice Abbott (1898 – 1991) once said “Photography can only represent the present .Once photographed the subject become a part of the past”.
Just like the subjects the camera & its factory also faded into oblivion, but those cameras also had a glorious past, while today again we are thinking of being self-reliant perhaps we can draw some useful lessons from past.
Happy #WorldPhotographyDay – August 19
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Bina Das - The fierce daughter of Bengal who took on the mighty Raj
A 🧵 on her Revolutionary life
Bina Das was born on 24 August 1911, Krishnanagar in a bramho family, her father Benimadhav Das was a well-known revolutionary & Teacher .
Her mother -Sarala Das was a social worker.
Bina’s father -Benimadhab Das used to teach at Cuttack’s Ravenshaw Collegiate School. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was a student of her father
Paramount - The Revolutionary Sherbet shop of Kolkata
As heat wave hits summer,a cool sherbet that quenches thirst as well as caters to taste buds is indeed a bliss
Know about this heritage institution in this 🧵
Located in the most vibrant area of Kolkata in the vicinity of reputed heritage educational institutions, in College Street near Mahabodhi Society
Paramount Juice centre has made a name & fame for itself among Kolkata people for more than a century
The enterprise was started by Nihar Ranjan Majumder who was originally from Barisal ( now in present-day Bangladesh) in 1918 relocated to Kolkata
The World’s largest Democracy’s 1st election was a mammoth task with humongous challenges ,an unsung hero made it possible & estd the frame work of conducting elections in India~He is Sukumar Sen,1st Election commissioner of Independent India.
A🧵on forgotten history
As the Constitution of India came into effect on January 26, 1950, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was anxious to get the elections underway as soon as possible.
Govt of India passed Representation of the People Act in 1950 & 1951 successively which provided the framework for the elections
With the sun setting on Raisina Hill on December 16, 1971, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi reached Parliament @ 5:30 pm & informed the world “Dacca is now the free capital of a free country."
Here is a Master 🧵 on 1971 Bangladesh Liberation war
Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose a Bengali scientist -a biologist, a physicist, a botanist and also a writer of science fiction & was also 1st in the world to initiate interdisciplinary research
Bose demonstrated how plants responded to various stimuli, demonstrating the electrical nature of this conduction. He is considered a pioneer in the field of biophysics.
Bose contrived a very sophisticated instrument called the crescograph, which could record and observe plants minute responses to external stimulants
Academy Museum described Statyajit Ray’s Movie “ Shatranj ke Khiladi” as an “elegant dissection of colonialism”
A 🧵 on the Movie
Shatranj Ke Khilari was the first and only full-length Hindi / Urdu feature film made by Ray. It had an ensemble star including Sanjeev Kumar, Amjad Khan, Richard Attenborough, Shabana Azmi, and Tom Alter. The movie was released on 3rd October, 1977
Its a story of two aristocratic friends immersed in playing chess while a bloodless coup on Awadh by a handful of British soldiers was underway .