Remembering the late. Mr. Dilish Parekh, the photojournalist who has the world’s largest collection of cameras.

“Even though I belong to a family of gemologists and jewelers, photography has always been my first love. Soon after I got my first camera I started shooting for the Hindi edition of local newspapers while continuing my passion to collect the cameras. I have collected these priceless pieces from places like old studios and flea markets though I also buy them new. In fact, I had also advertised in the newspapers to buy cameras from people. Those were pre-internet days and nobody knew the value or history of these items. To this day, I have never spent more than 2000 on a single antique camera in my collection.

These antique cameras are close to my heart. They have been with me for more than 50 years now. I pretty much grew up with them.
I have been collecting cameras for the past 42 years. It all started when my grandfather gifted me 600 cameras from his own collection, back in 1970.
He was a camera collector himself. I vividly remember the afternoons I spent with him, learning the nitty-gritty of the camera. It’s somewhere there, that I developed a liking for photography. Everything I know about the craft today, all the credit goes to him.

In my career as a photojournalist, I have covered many path-breaking stories but the moment that stands out in my career would be the Mumbai serial bomb blasts in 1993. I was around Zaveri bazaar when a series of bombs ripped through the neighbourhood. I was stunned for a moment but I immediately grabbed my camera and started taking the pictures even before the police got there. It was the most devastating incident I had ever come across but I managed to turn my mind to the job at hand and take those photographs.

Looking back at my journey, I am proud to say that my camera collection includes cameras from the period of 1890 to1960. Today, I own 4,425 antique cameras and many more digital cameras of well known brands. I park my car outside my house as I use my garage to store these cameras! I have also kept some special ones inside my house as a showcase.

My favorite camera amongst all will always be Leica 250 Reporter Rangefinder camera which I bought it from an old Parsi gentleman. I am a two-time Guinness Book of World Record Holder and have been in the Limca Book of World Records ten times, as well as the India Books Records. You name a camera from the past and I will have it somewhere in my garage!”