A’bad studio finds the picture perfect way

AHMEDABAD: The young son of a photographer in Ahmedabad is capturing the world in his frame with a unique outsourcing business — he restores old and damaged art work and photographs for his customers across the world. And it looks like the young man’s innovative business venture has already clicked, as his 50-odd staff touch up 450 photographs a day.

Thirty-two year old Kaushal Shukla set up Rajmin Photo Gallery in 2004 after he returned from New Zealand. He had gone to the Kiwi country in search of greener pasture and landed himself a job with Auckland-based PhotoPages, which did online restoration of photographs. He spotted an immense business opportunity in India, from where the same work could be done at half the cost. Last heard, the Japanese firm which took over PhotoPages recently has bought a 20% stake in Rajmin, although Mr Shukla says he can’t disclose the name of his partner yet.

Young people engaging in the area of creative process outsourcing could draw inspiration from Shukla’s initiative. At any given day, his 50-seat CPO gets around 450 old and damaged images of art work and photographs from Japan through the internet.

In his studio, Kaushal and his team repair and touch up them using PhotoShop. Finished pictures are sent back the same day to Japan, from where his partner firm delivers them to its clients. “We work 24 hours a day. Every photo that comes on a day has to go on the same day. In case the client doesn’t like the photo, he or she will send it back to us to work on it further,” says Mr Shukla.

Old photographs are being considered as a form of art in Japan and his company gets thousands of pictures everyday for restoration. Many people also gift these photographs as a memory to their relatives. “A beautifully restored picture makes an unusual, unique and very personal gift,” says Mr Shukla.

He recently restored a 1826 painting which was damaged extensively. He came to know about the age of the art work from a mention by its artist on the painting itself.

That’s one of his fondest memories. He also does not forget the challenges he had to face in New Zealand when he first landed there. “For six months I could not find myself a job, and I temporarily worked with gas filling station there.” That’s exactly what another Gujarati did years ago in another part of the world before he became India’s biggest businessman.