Photo walk in CSMT building in search of rare frames

A screenshot of a picture taken during the walk.

FOR some Instagrammers, a photo walk in the heritage Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) building was a way of capturing frames that might have otherwise eluded them. Participants at the two-hour walk said they could take time to compose their pictures, which usually becomes difficult in a heritage walk of the building. Organised on March 27 by the Central Railway, as many as 40 people visited the heritage gallery museum, the star chamber ticketing office, soaked in the Gothic architecture across hallways and the geometrical staircases of the building.

Meghna Girhotra from Mumbai Instagrammers group who led the tour believed that it helped budding photographers gather interesting pictures to their collection. “The heritage building of CSMT is a unique representation of British architecture and what the Great Indian Peninsular Railway (GIPR), predecessor to the CR contributed to its making. In a dedicated walk like this, budding photographers get a chance to understand the history of the building and decide on the composition of their photographs.” she said.

Under the hashtag #CSMTphotowalk, as many as 64 posts, showing different corners of the building, including top-angle shots of the stairs and vintage clocks, appeared on Instagram Among others, a black and white image of a person stepping inside the CSMT building and the play of light on the vintage pillars across the hallway grabbed eyeballs.

“Such walks force us to invest time in producing better photos. For example, we were shown different artifacts in the heritage museum and our pictures only got better when we understood the history behind them. For a photographer like me, taking a shot of railway flags after understanding why they were used, adds to the impact. As talks of converting the building to a museum are underway, we are excited as that might offer us other interesting shots of the station,” Kunal Tripathi, a participant, said.

The group aims to upload a complete album of the photos taken on Instagram and a video showing the collection. Meghna and Kunal also aim to blog about the walk to ensure that more people join the next photo walk. “The tour captured the essence of the heritage building for photo enthusiasts. Being one of the most photographed buildings, Instagrammers got unique shots. We plan to organise many more events and walks like these in the future,” Sunil Udasi, the CR spokesperson said.