In the history of photography in Kalimpong, Pushpa Studio was among the town’s earliest photographic studios, possibly the third oldest. It followed The Kalimpong Stores, established by the Pyne Brothers in 1900 on what is now Main Road, later shifting to Thana Dara and becoming popularly known as Kodak Studio, and Kassim Studio, founded by Lal Mohamad in the early 1920s.

 

In the 1940s, Pushpa Mani Pradhan established Pushpa Studio at 10th Mile, Kalimpong. Alongside photography, the studio also sold soda water. It became known for carefully composed studio portraits, using decorative frames, wooden stands and other props to position subjects for photographs.

 

One of the studio’s distinctive practices was the hand-colouring of black-and-white bromide photographs. At a time when colour photography was still uncommon and images in colour fascinated people, photographs were painstakingly coloured by hand to give them the appearance and vibrancy of colour photographs.

 

It was within this environment that Purna Mani Pradhan, Pushpa Mani Pradhan’s son, developed his early interest in painting and the art of photographic hand-colouring. As a young boy, Purna was already interested in painting and showed a natural ability with colour. He began helping at the studio by hand-colouring black-and-white photographs, while also earning some pocket money from the work.

 

For Purna, hand-colouring was not simply a technical process. It was an intimate way of transforming a photographic image—adding colour, depth and character while carefully working within the details of the original photograph. The skill required patience, a steady hand and an understanding of how colours interact with the tones of a monochrome image.

 

Pushpa Studio also became an important place for documenting Kalimpong’s diverse trading community. Located along a route frequently used by Tibetan traders, the studio attracted visitors from across the Himalayan region, including traders who travelled from as far as Lhasa. Many came to have their portraits made in traditional clothing and distinctive boots. Framed photographs of His Holiness the Dalai Lama were also among the studio’s popular items. These photographs today form part of the visual memory of Kalimpong’s cosmopolitan past.

 

Pushpa Mani Pradhan also trained Gopal Das Pradhan, a young boy from Pedong, in the skills of photography. In the mid-1950s, Gopal established his own Gopal Studio, barely 80 metres from Pushpa Studio. Another photographer of the period, Sunil, was known for his skill in negative retouching and later established Photo Palace on Kalimpong’s Main Road.

 

Pushpa Mani Pradhan passed away in the early 1970s, and Pushpa Studio closed a few years later. But the knowledge and practice of hand-colouring continued through Purna Mani Pradhan.

 

This workshop offers an opportunity to learn directly from Purna Mani Pradhan and to encounter a photographic practice that once formed an important part of Kalimpong’s studio culture. His continued practice connects contemporary audiences with a craft that existed before colour photography became widely accessible, preserving not only a technique but also a part of Kalimpong’s photographic history.