Capital Chroniclers: The story of Mahatta, one of Delhi’s oldest surviving studios

Mahatta & Co., one of Delhi's oldest surviving photo studios, has witnessed a revolution in photography and retained its dedication to preserving memories for over seven decades. The studio, located on the first floor of M Block in Connaught Place, opened in 1948, while the family business was established in Jammu and Kashmir in 1915.

Pavan Mehta, the grandson of the studio’s founder Amar Nath Mehta, shared that the family fled their home in Gurdaspur as young men following a property dispute that resulted in their parents' deaths. Amar Nath moved to Dalhousie, which is now part of Chamba district, where he was introduced to photography by Army personnel. The Mehta family became the only sales agents of Kodak in the region in 1921, and after India's independence, they shut down their studios in Pakistan.

In 1948, Amar Nath opened the Mahatta & Co. studio and store in Connaught Place, where it has remained ever since, chronicling the city's transformations over the decades. The studio has seen photography evolve from black-and-white to color, from slide-film processing to digital pictures, and still holds vintage wooden and glass plate cameras that were used in the 1950s.

The Mehtas attribute their success to patience, commitment, and the ability to adapt to technological changes while maintaining the core values of the business.