The article looks at Studio In Grey, a creative space in Indore that functions as both a photography studio and a cultural venue hosting small-scale art and community programming. It outlines initiatives such as the Glass Eyes Film Club, workshops on cyanotype printing, journaling and guerrilla filmmaking, music recording sessions, and DIY photobook gatherings. Alongside events, the studio also runs editorial initiatives and a newsletter to spotlight independent artists. Overall, the piece presents Studio In Grey as a growing third space for photographers, filmmakers, writers and musicians to meet, collaborate and build a local creative community.
Weekends in most cities start to look the same after a while — malls, restaurants, shopping streets, the occasional movie. Entire social lives end up orbiting spaces designed primarily for consumption. Which is why over the past few years there’s been a growing pull toward third spaces again — spaces where you can hang out and engage with art, culture and meaningful activities. In an economy where nearly every public space is designed around profit, these smaller cultural rooms offer something different: time spent making, discussing, learning, and sharing. In Indore, Studio in Grey has slowly become one of those spaces, drawing photographers, filmmakers, readers, and musicians into a spot that regularly fills with screenings, workshops, conversations, and experiments in independent culture.
Located a few floors above the street, the studio operates as both a working photography space and a flexible venue for cultural programming. It has hosted shoots with professional lighting setups and backdrops, but the space has also regularly shifted shape to accommodate small exhibitions, talks, screenings, workshops, and music sessions. Events at the studio typically work on a modest scale with intimate rooms, limited seats, and intentional conversations which has helped the studio build a small but consistent creative community in the city.
One of the most exciting initiatives to emerge from the space has been Glass Eyes Film Club, an independent film club built around screenings and post-screening discussions. The club has screened films ranging from Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love to Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice, alongside open screenings of independent work such as Humans in the Loop. Some screenings have been open gatherings, while others have run as members-only events. The film club has also hosted conversations around filmmaking and regional cinema. One session brought together filmmaker Abhinav Dubey, writer-researcher Ankit Verma, and cinematographer Mangeshii Dronkar for a discussion on Marigoldand Malwa Khushan, exploring rural queer narratives, AFAB stories, and the challenges of telling such stories within small-town filmmaking contexts.
Over the past year, the space has hosted a wide range of workshops across various creative practices. Artist Neelesh Yogi conducted a cyanotype printing session titled Marks of Time, introducing participants to sun-printing techniques using light and natural materials. A writing workshop, The Art of Journaling, hosted by Nainy Sahani, explored diaries and personal writing as a reflective practice. Filmmakers Mangeshii Dronkar and Abhinav Dubey, in collaboration with Brown People Films, led Field Notes: A Guerrilla Filmmaking Workshop, a two-day session focused on zero-budget filmmaking and independent production. White Box Recording Sessions, organised with Exhibit A, opened the studio to singer-songwriters and independent musicians looking for a space to record and present their work. The aim was to create a low-pressure recording environment where emerging artists could perform, document their music, and share it with new audiences.
Photography and publishing have remained central to the studio’s identity as well. Visitors have a chance to browse the studio’s photobook shelf, which brings together international photobooks and independent titles. That interest in small-scale publishing also shaped events like Coffee & Yap: A DIY Photobook Afternoon, led by Mrunmayee Das, where participants built handmade A6 photobooks from their own images while discussing photobook culture and self publishing. One recent edition of the series Artists and Spaces highlighted the work and studio practice of photographer Sohrab Hura, alongside reflections on how artists shape their working environments. Beyond physical events, the studio has also built smaller editorial initiatives that extend the conversation outside the room like the Photo of the Week series that invites photographers to submit work for community features.
With a weekly newsletter that circulates artist features, film recommendations and more, Studio In Grey a place where independent creative work can surface locally instead of existing only online or in larger cities alone. It’s the first visual arts studio of its kind in central India that’s keeping the conversation on contemporary arts alive.
Follow Studio In Grey here.
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