They don’t make movies, movie theatres or definitely the movie theatre typography the way they used to.
Street°Type°Archive is my way of holding onto that lost feeling and the textural, physical layer of the city through letterforms: the theatres that once announced films like news, the neon, concrete, metal and hand‑painted titles that became cultural markers.
Here are a few from the archive.
1. Tulsi, Lucknow – 2008
2. Novelty, Bombay – 2022
3. Kokers Komplex (Lido & Mymoon), Ernakulam – 2010
4. Jaibharat, Lucknow – 2017
5. Regal, Bombay – 2010
6. Palace Talkies, Bombay – 2024
7. Eros, Bombay – 2016
8. Aradhana, Baroda – 2024
9. Meghraj, Bombay – 2024
10. Broadway, Chennai – 2023
11. Central, Madurai – 2010
12. Sridar Cinemas – 2010
13. Chaplin, Calcutta – 2013
14. Mayfair, Lucknow – 2017
15. Tribhuvan, Bangalore – 2011
16. Metro, Calcutta – 2013
17. Roxy, Calcutta – 2013
18. Society Cinema, Calcutta – 2013
19. Elite, Calcutta – 2013
20. Pratap, Baroda – 2024
When I photographed these houses, I was responding to this convergence of movement: the migration of people and the migration of ideas, both embedded in locked doors and fading paint. At the time, the work felt observational, even quiet. I did not expect the photographs to reach those who had left, nor to have such a strong impact.
Read the article on Substack.
Link in Bio
I was introduced to Tamade on my 2023 visit to Osaka.
A hyperlocal supermarket that feels like it’s glowing from within. Neon everywhere, type piled on type, a kind of visual excess that makes perfect sense once you’re inside it.
It stands for something simple. Affordable food, all day, every day, for whoever needs it.
There’s a story people like to tell. That it came up during a financial crisis, with quiet backing by the Yakuza to make sure neighbourhoods would always have access to cheap groceries. The aesthetic, pulled from pachinko parlours, pushing against an otherwise grim moment.
After decades, even Tamade is changing hands. Likely to be softened, cleaned up, made to fit a different idea of the city.
This kind of design doesn’t really survive that kind of a rebrand and who knows what will remain.
But fragments do. In photographs, in memory, in personal archives. I’m certain @adriennehruby has her own version of it tucked away somewhere.
For me, this is part of @streettypearchive . Trying to hold on to these visual languages as they slip away.
Spent some time at the @wasilva_museum with @pathumego and his team as part of @openhousecolombo festivities Such a fun space with some great type ephemera, artefacts from the author W A Silva’s personal collection of manuscripts and books. The space also has a working albion press. Thanks to Pathum, Natasha, Prashanna, Alicia and Mr Ravi for having me. Hope to be back soon!
And oh, if the cat chooses you. You are alright.
@streettypearchive@akurucollective@mooniakhq
Do you know the country's biggest design studio isn’t in any fancy location… but on the streets?
Step out, look around.Walls don't just have ears, but their soul comes alive as we explore the sign, letters and type across the biggest archival museum, our streets.
At D’FROST’26, photographer Aashim Tyagi brings Found Type, Lost Time: A City in Fragments a talk and interactive session exploring how cities reveal themselves through signage, typography, walls, and everyday visual traces. Through his long-term project Street°Type°Archive, he treats the city as something you can read layer by layer, fragment by fragment.
Expect visual deep-dives, reflections on urban memory, and a fresh way of looking at the spaces you move through every day.
🗓 27th February
⏰ 4:00 PM
💻 Online Session
Part of D’FROST Design Mela 2026.
Come curious. Leave seeing differently.
#dfrost #nidbanglore #dfrost2026 #desimela #nid
Credits: @k_vedant08
Goodbye B Merwan & Co..
The cover of my Bombay Eats zine and was shot here, it’s a phot that’ll always be special to me.
That beautiful type and the signboard will slip into memory now, along with the best mawa cake the city had to offer along with the many cups of chai and makhan pav had during type walks or while meeting friends ( Hi Jez!).
A place where the Bombay briefly slowed down.
xx
Crafting moments, one frame at a time.
At Balasinaurus, two worlds came together - Khora by @teja_gavankar , an abstract meditation on transformation, and Aashim Tyagi’s photographic journey through Balasinor’s Art Deco legacy.
What emerged was a conversation across art, remembrance, and legacy.
#StoneXGlobal #Balasinaurus #CreateYourImprintOnTime
#DaysGoneBye
Another one gone.
Retro Arcade Zarigani, Osaka lost to a fire in January of 2025.
@adriennehruby and I shed a tear together. Sigh.
Photo 1 - July,2023
Photo 2 - September, 2025
Day 2 unfolded beyond the walk, building the story one page at a time.
After exploring the streets, the participants gathered for a hands-on workshop led by photographer Aashim Tyagi - reflecting on observations, refining perspectives, and translating the city’s architectural details into thoughtful visual narratives.
A day of learning, creating & exploring- where seeing turned into storytelling.
#ArtDecoAlive #Deco100 #MiamiMeetsMumbai
A Morning Typography Photowalk through Kala Ghoda and Fort, where history unfolds in lines, curves, and quiet details.
Led by photographer Aashim Tyagi as part of the Art Deco Alive! Festival, the photo walk invited participants to pause, observe, and reframe Mumbai’s architectural legacy through their own lens.
A celebration of seeing deeply, creating consciously, and keeping the city’s Deco stories alive - one frame at a time.
#ArtDecoAlive #Deco100 #MiamiMeetsMumbai
I am thinking of doing a small Street Type Archive walk in Fort and Kala Ghoda, from 8:00 am to 10:30 am.
We will walk through Art Deco buildings and signs, look at lettering and design that came even before that, and spend time around the old hardware stores from the 80s and 90s that are slowly disappearing as the area gets rewritten.
This is both a type walk and a photo walk.
About slowing down, being curious, learning how to see type, and responding to scenes with some intention.
A way to photograph not just what looks good, but what means something, and to build your own visual journal as a way of understanding a city.
I am hoping to do this on the 27th and 28th of December.
Maximum of 15 people per walk.
₹900 per head.
If this feels like your kind of morning, let me know.
DM To register.
