Through the lens of a camera buff

Kerala’s Earnest Antony has a collection of more than 200 cameras, from old pinhole to the present digital ones.

Around 40 years ago, a priest from the Church of South India in Mananchira, Kozhikode, gifted a German-made Rolleicord camera worth Rs 500 to craft teacher-cum-photographer Henry Antony. But it was his son, Earnest Antony, who was drawn more to the camera. “This gift, which worked only in daylight, marked my foray into the world of cameras,” says 68-year-old Antony.

At his old-fashioned home named Jesinta in Eranhipalam in Kozhikode, Antony has a collection of over 200 cameras ranging from an old pinhole to the latest digital ones. “I was passionate about cameras right from my

childhood,” says Antony, a former freelance photographer.Antony’s collection comprises popular brands like Nikon, Canon, Mamiya, Sony, Yashica Click III, Kodak 620 box camera, Agfa Isoly, Nikkormat and Polaroid 600. “I have shelled out more than `2 lakh to get these cameras,” he says. Though digital cameras have now conquered the world of photography, the Nikon 35 mm camera remains his favourite.

One of the heaviest in his collection is a 50-year-old field camera weighing 25 kg. “I used a field camera to take group photos when I worked in a studio,” says Antony. This field camera is the most expensive, while a 35mm film Konica camera is the cheapest. Around half the cameras in his collection are in working condition but they cannot be used because of the unavailability of film rolls.

His son-in-law had recently gifted him a disposable camera that can be used under water. Sivan, a camera repairman, gave him several old cameras when he shifted to a new shop. “We thought his obsession for camera will end at some point,” says his wife Joyce, a retired schoolteacher. “But even years after our marriage, his first love is still the camera. He used to store the cameras under the cot, on top

of cupboards and on the shelves.”There were moments when Antony brought her to tears because of his passion. Once, in order to buy a camera, he sold the wedding ring, without the permission of Joyce. “When she came to know, she began crying,” he says.

But Joyce does get help because of Antony’s hobby. She makes sculptures made of thermocol of their family members and asks her husband to take photographs of them. Antony began his career by working in the National Studio. He was there for 23 years. Thereafter, he became a freelance photographer in Kozhikode. But, owing to the advancement of technology, professional photographers

are losing their significance. “Today, anybody can take photographs,” he says. “I used to observe photographers with great admiration during my childhood. But for the present-day children, photography is nothing but child’s play.”

Recollecting his experience as a freelance photographer Antony says that on several occasions he received appreciation from customers for taking good photographs. Meanwhile, leading a retired life now, Antony has still not got enough of his craze for cameras.

Though several visitors expressed their wish to buy some of his cameras, he has refused the offers saying the collection was not for sale. “This hobby keeps me free from stress. I am always looking for new cameras to add to my collection,” he says. Antony’s immediate plans include buying a spacious house to store his collection.

(This article was published in The New Indian Express (Sunday Magazine) newspaper-14/04/2013)