The burnt and decayed structure of Bourne & Shepherd, that still stands almost unnoticed, neglected and avoided like a beggar next to the glamorous Metropolitan Building on S N Banerjee Road in Calcutta, was once regarded as one of the oldest photographic studios in the world. Unfortunately, today the four-storied Gothic structured building wears a barren look and counting its day, like a discarded incident of cruel history.

In 1863, Samuel Bourne, one of the most reputed early European commercial photographer-cum-adventurers, arrived in Calcutta and initially established the Howard & Bourne Studio in Shimla , with William Howard, an established Calcutta photographer, as his partner. In the meanwhile, a photographic studio, named Shepherd & Robertson, had already been established in Agra in 1862, by Charles Shepherd and Arthur Robertson and subsequently they also shifted to Shimla in 1864. However, within a short time, as Robertson left the business, his partner Charles Shepherd joined the Howard & Bourne Studio and formed Howard, Bourne & Shepherd. Subsequently, with the departure of Howard, the company was renamed as Bourne & Shepherd. The new photographic company, Bourne & Shepherd, opened a branch in Calcutta in 1866 and within no time it came into prominence as one of the most prestigious studios of its time, equally preferred by the British rulers as well as the Indian royalty.

During those early magical days of black and white no official inauguration, social or political felicitation or marriage ceremonies of important families was considered complete without being photographed by the Bourne & Shepherd Company. After an illustrious career in India, when Bourne went back to England in 1870, he sold off his shares in studios, and left behind his invaluable archive of around 2,200 glass plate negatives with the studio, which were constantly re-printed and sold, over the following 140 years to the benefit of the company.

The Bourne & Shepherd Company was mainly famous for portrait images. Apart from many luminaries of that period, they were very much privileged to have the opportunity to click Sree Ramakrishna Paramahansa Deb. Many famous persons of the period frequented their studio, which include Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore and Oscar winner film director Satyajit Ray. Some of the most precious works of the company are still preserved and exhibited in the Smithsonian group of museums in Washington, DC, the famous National Portrait Gallery in London, Cambridge University Library and the National Geographic Society.

Till the later part of the 20th century, not all the family was the proud owner of a camera. Hence, the business of the Bourne & Shepherd Company was not really bad. While the eager guardians wanted to get a pretty picture of their unmarried daughter for matrimonial purpose, the newly married couples used to visit the studio to be photographed together, at least for the first time. Apart from that, most of the well to do families sincerely wished to arrange a family album to record the special social occasions like the First Rice of a child, Upanayana, Birthday Party, Marriage Ceremony or Anniversary.

Unfortunately, a sudden fire ravaged the building of Bourne and Shepherd in 1991 and consequently most of its archival materials were destroyed to ashes. Perhaps that was the warning bell, which signified the beginning of the end of the company, as it could never recover from the sudden setback.The advent of the new century did not bring any light of hope, rather it acted as the last nail in its coffin. With the new century, digital photography and later smart phones, along with the electronic social media appeared on the social and political scene. The beauty of black and white lost its glamour with the revolutionary change of technology. The fight for existence was finally lost in the month of June 2016, when the legendary establishment quietly closed down its shutters forever.

The building of Bourne and Shepherd has been declared as a heritage building, though no action has since been taken to repair and renovate it. In the meantime, the company has also lost its legal battle against LIC, the owner of the building.