Fiona Caulfield's Love Guide for Jaipur, Rajasthan was an indispensable source of inspiration for the trip my family and I made last week. Along with plenty of great hotel, shopping and restaurant recommendations, Love Guide led me to Mr. Tikkam Chand; a charming photographer I met outside City Palace Museum in Jaipur. This was undoubtedly the highlight of my trip.

Tikkam and his brother use their grandfather's hundred and fifty year old camera with an original Carl Zeiss lens to take photos of tourists and passer-bys, which are then developed in front of you within just 10 minutes!

Once the negatives are produced on photographic paper, he works on the positives from the back of the camera alternating between two trays containing the fixer and the developer.

Tikkam was happy to talk me through the whole process AND take photos too.

 These are then washed with water and left to dry on a wooden board.

There isn't a dull moment as Tikkam and his brother show you their collection of old photos and newspaper cuttings. They took some photos for the recent Bollywood film, 'Bhool Bhulaiya' and will also appear in an American documentary and MTV show in the near future. 

If you're in Jaipur, contact Tikkam on 9828072800 to get your photo taken!

An excellent souvenir.

 I have been sorting out all the photos I took when I was studying at NIFT in Gujarat. Among hundreds of 'college festival', 'gh 5' and 'hanging out at the gala having a cup of chai' photos; I found these precious ones from our first photography module back in 2003 when Dhimant Panchal was teaching us how to use a camera!

I have used a Canon 500N and 35mm Kodak film. 

I am looking forward to my trip to Ahmedabad in January where I'll be meeting up with Meena Kadri to photograph the kite festival, Uttarayan!

my first lomo and diana prints. very exciting!