Photographer Adita Arya, over many decades of work, collected thousands of artefacts related to photography: these artefacts form about 97-98% of the display at Museo Camera, which he first set up in 2006, and which has since expanded. The museum is housed in a building that stretches over several floors and includes, besides the museum, various other areas: research centres, a dark room, lecture halls and conference rooms, studio, the museum shop, and a café. Outside, the garden has some delightfully quirky brightly-painted stuff—auto rickshaw, scooter, Ambassador car—designed for visitors’ selfies.
The museum spreads over two galleries on the ground floor; basic ticket prices are Rs 200 per person above 9 years. You pay extra for an audio guide. Photography is not just allowed, but encouraged! On the second floor of the building is a permanent exhibition of some stunning works by Kulwant Roy, whose portraits of Gandhiji and other national leaders of the mid-century are iconic. The first floor has two galleries where temporary exhibitions are hosted; when we visited, one exhibition had photos from the early 1900s of a mountaineering expedition in the Himalayas; the other was of 19th century Lucknow courtesans.
The museum’s galleries basically use a timeline method to show the development and evolution of photography. Well-written text, lots of interesting artefacts (cameras, photos, accessories, and more) are arranged here in what is a treasure trove devoted to photography. There are amazing insights into pioneers, major brands, specialized cameras (for war; spy cameras; Polaroid; etc), stereoscopes, and more.
You need at least an hour to even do a rudimentary tour through the museum. It’s very interesting, and the professionalism with which everything has been curated, described, and displayed, is admirable. One of the best museums I’ve been to in India.