The following images contributed by Laboni Mukherjee are photography negatives of the
Agfacolor series. The photographs were developed by the Savoy Camera Stores in Kolkata.
Image Contributor: Laboni Mukherjee
To know more about Laboni, follow her Instagram profile @chako_boni
Agfa, or Aktien-GelleschaftfürAnalinFabrikation, was a manufacturer of dyestuffs from Berlin.
It had later entered the photography industry in 1898 and become a major player as a motion
picture film stock maker. (Enticknap 18) Agfacolor, or Agfa Colour, was one of their colour film
products which became popular for still photography after World War II.
The Savoy Camera Stores was established in 1918 by Amar Nath Biswas and is currently
owned by his son Arjun Biswas. Situated at 4, Chowringhee Road, Kolkata 700013, it is
one of the oldest photography shops in the city.
Negative Sleeves of Agfacolor and Savoy Camera Stores. Laboni Mukherjee.
Agfacolor Negative sleeves in unfolded position. Laboni Mukherjee.
Inside face of Agfacolor Negative Sleeves. Laboni Mukherjee.
The first three images are of negative sleeves from 1983 and 1986-87, both developed by the
Savoy Camera Stores in Kolkata, India. The one with blue text on white background is of the
Savoy Camera Stores while the other one with black and blue text on an orange background
is a set of Agfacolor negatives sold by the same shop. The later two images portray the unfolded
negative sleeves with their front and back sides.
Negative book of Savoy Camera Stores. Laboni Mukherjee.
The fourth image is of a negative book from the Savoy Camera Stores. In her description
of the negative book, Laboni Mukherjee writes:
“[It] is from the 1970s. It is a negative book, each page storing a single negative (not having the perforations seen in rolled film negatives, and not having the characteristic brown tinge of later colour negatives)... Even though the negative book advertised the use of Agfa Brovira paper for development of photographs, it cannot be ascertained if the film stock is also from Agfa…”
Additional Resources:
Enticknap, Leo, Moving Image Technology: From Zoetrope to Digital, London, 2005, p. 18.
Neary, David. “On the Agfacolor Process.” New York University,
www.nyu.edu/tisch/preservation/program/student_work/2013fall/13f_2920_Neary_a2.pdf.
Acknowledgement: Sincere thanks to Mr. Arjun Biswas for providing the information
about the establishment of the Savoy Camera Stores.
[Detailed Descriptions of Images: The first image is of two sets of photography negatives from
the Savoy Camera Stores, one of them being from the Agfacolor series. The two of them have
been placed on a red cloth background. One of the sets is white in colour with deep blue text
on it. The text reads “Savoy Camera Stores” in capitalized letters along with “Calcutta” below
it, capitalized in a smaller font size. The set also contains scribbles by the photographer
(Laboni’s father) on the top in orange which read “Delhi, Lucknow, Agra” and “1983. Oct-Nov”.
Placed diagonally on the edge of the above set is the Agfacolor one which has an orange and
peach boxed background (four boxes, each colour diagonally placed to its pair). It contains the
Agfacolor logo (name in deep blue colour with an oval enclosure open below the curves of ‘g’
and ‘f’) such that the text “Your Agfacolor negatives” runs across the top orange and peach
boxes in deep blue cursive. The orange segment below it contains the text “Savoy Camera
Stores” in deep blue capitalized letters along with the text “Next to Metro” capitalized and
inside brackets.
Other text includes “Latest Air-Conditioned Dark Room” and their address “4, Chowringhee
Road, Calcutta-13”. The left bottom striped peach box contains the Agfa logo with white text
inside a deep blue rhombus-shaped background along with a white outline having small text.
The second image contains the Agfacolor set described above with the negatives inside the
sleeves unfolded below it. The dark perforated negatives can be discerned inside the
translucent negative sleeve paper.
The third image contains the same Agfacolor set with the inside face visible. Above the
unfolded negative sleeves, the backside of the sleeve cover can be observed as having a
numbered list of instructions/suggestions in small deep blue text with the heading “A Few
Hints for Good Agfacolor Pictures” in capitalized deep blue text with the text “Agfacolor”
being the brand logo.
The fourth image is mainly of a negative book from the Savoy Camera Stores. The image
contains three items; the first is the folded front page of the negative book containing the text
“Savoy Camera Stores” along with their store addresses (“4, Chowringhee Road, Calcutta -13.
Phone: 23-4836” and “25, Bhupendra Bose Avenue, Calcutta-4. Phone: 55-6087”) in deep blue
text (and “FULL” in orange scribbling at the top). The second item is a negative image of
(possibly) a Durga Puja scene having the idols of the goddess and her accompanying four
children, all placed behind a railing/barricade. The third item is the actual negative book in
an open position containing the negatives in sleeve-like translucent pages. As mentioned by
the contributor, the negatives are not perforated at the edges.]
