On Jew Town’s busy streets in Mattancherry, a small stall is helping people take a piece of Kochi home with them. At Old Town Press, photographs are turned into vintage-style postcards and old-school newspaper prints. The project is run by Akshay from Thrissur, who is turning memories into keepsakes meant to last.
Akshay did not come from a background in printing or design. Until recently, he was working at a Starbucks outlet in Thrissur. “I was there for almost two years,” he says. “I used to get a lot of free time at work, and like anyone else, I’d scroll through Instagram.” It was during one of those scrolling sessions that something clicked. “I saw a reel from a foreign country,” he recalls. “It was about a print-on-demand setup at a tourist place. People would get photos printed instantly. That idea stayed with me.”
Curious, Akshay began researching online. “When I Googled it, I realised this concept exists all over the world,” he says. “But I didn’t see anything like it in Kerala. I wanted to bring it here, but do it in my own way.”
That decision, however, came with a big risk. “I knew I had to resign from my job if I wanted to take this seriously,” he says. “So I did.” It took him nearly two months to set everything up, from figuring out the printing process to sourcing materials, all with the only money he had with him.
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One of the most personal parts of Old Town Press comes from his own home. “I had this 60-year-old trunk suitcase that belonged to my grandmother,” he says. “It was meant to be thrown away. But for some reason, I couldn’t let it go.” Today, that trunk holds his printing machine and forms the heart of his stall.
“I kept thinking about how to make it different,” he says. “That’s when the postcard idea came.” At Old Town Press, visitors can get their photos printed instantly in a vintage postcard format. Some walk in, pose for a photograph, and walk away with a printed memory. Others send photos over WhatsApp or email, which Akshay prints and mails back to them.
Choosing Mattancherry was not part of an elaborate plan. Akshay originally wanted to start somewhere in North, but finances became a constraint. “After setting up the machinery, I had almost no money left,” he says. “I didn’t have family support. My friends helped me put things together.” With the Kochi Biennale bringing crowds into the city, Akshay decided to take a chance. “I thought Kochi would be crowded now, so I came to check it out,” he says. He walked through Jew Town, speaking to shop owners, asking if he could set up a small stall. “Most people said no. Only one shop, Malabar Emporium, said yes.”The shop owner asked him to try it out for a day. “He told me, ‘See if it works. If it does, you can set up next to my shop,” Akshay says. “He was the first person who found the idea interesting.”
That was how Old Town Press found its place in Jew Town.
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It has been a little over a month since Akshay set up shop, and the response has surprised him. “People have really started liking the work,” he says. “Once I began posting reels, people started coming here and asking for Old Town Press specifically.” The growing popularity has also brought new challenges. “The crowd has become a bit difficult to manage,” he admits. “Other vendors around also feel the pressure.” Because of this, Akshay is considering moving to a different location once the seasonal rush settles down, possibly by the end of March.
For now, he remains open to new possibilities. “I’m also interested in setting this up at college fests, weddings, and other personal events too,” he says.
