In this blog post, Anita Sharma, a graduate assistant in the Research & Access Department at CHM writes about photographer Mukul Roy and her work documenting the emergence of South Asian communities in Chicago.

In 1984, Indian American photographer Mukul Roy (1931–2023) gifted a portfolio of twenty-four black-and-white photographs to the Chicago History Museum (formerly the Chicago Historical Society). She references this gift in a rare interview conducted for the Asian American Oral History Project, led by DePaul University professor Laura Kina. The interview remains one of the few publicly accessible sources documenting Roy’s life and photographic practice.

Devon Avenue near Maplewood Avenue, Nov. 1984. CHM, ICHi-026078; Mukul Roy, photographer

Born in Udupi, in the Indian state of Karnataka, Roy spent her early years in India before moving to England with her husband in 1966. She immigrated to the United States in 1970 and settled in Chicago. Her photographic journey began in the early 1980s with the purchase of her first camera, an Instamatic bought with store coupons. At the time, photography was a way to navigate the cultural and language barriers she faced as a new immigrant. It became a tool of curiosity and connection, allowing her to relate to her surroundings and to the growing South Asian community around her. She later upgraded to a Nikon camera, took photography classes, and enrolled in a master’s program in photography at Columbia College Chicago.

Roy’s arrival in Chicago coincided with the first wave of South Asian immigration following the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. While detailed data from that period is limited, the Center for Immigration Studies notes that Illinois’s Asian population grew from 80,000 in 1970 to 302,000 by 1990. By 1980, roughly 35,000 South Asians were living in the Chicago metropolitan area. Roy’s photographs organically document this demographic shift, capturing the emergence of South Asian life across Chicagoland, especially along Devon Avenue in the West Ridge neighborhood. These images capture the emergence of South Asian diasporic space-making–how communities came together to build cultural familiarity and experience social connection.

Her 1984 portfolio captures Devon Avenue’s early South Asian-owned businesses and street life, including clothing shops, grocery stores, street food vendors, and restaurants. Among them was India Sari Palace, the first sari shop on Devon Avenue, which opened in 1973. Before its arrival, many South Asian women in Chicago ordered saris from Japanese mail-order catalogs. Roy recalled the challenges: “There were problems shopping by mail in selecting the patterns, and because of the long waiting period. A few months after the shop opened, Indian people crowded the store.” Selling imported synthetic saris from Japan, the store quickly became a cultural hub where women came not only to shop, but to gather and socialize.

Clerks and customers at Royal Sari Store, 2541 Devon Avenue, Nov. 1984. CHM, ICHi-025787; Mukul Roy, photographer

When researching Devon Avenue and the emergence of South Asian communities in Chicago, Mukul Roy’s photographs almost always surface. She seemed to intuitively understand the long-term significance of documenting these everyday moments. At a time when there was little to no visual representation of South Asian life in the city, Roy turned her lens toward the people, businesses, and rhythms that would define a burgeoning diasporic community.

Devon Avenue is now synonymous with the iconic Patel Brothers supermarket, which opened its first location there in 1974 and later expanded across the United States. Roy’s photographs of the original Patel Brothers storefront are among the earliest visual records of this cultural landmark and are now frequently cited and reproduced in articles, exhibitions, and local histories of the area.

The owner’s son stocking shelves at Patel Brothers, 2542 Devon Avenue, Nov. 1984. CHM, ICHi-026012; Mukul Roy, photographer

Roy captures intimate moments of South Asian immigrants and families visiting Devon Avenue in search of the familiar—home-cooked food, hard to find spices, and a sense of belonging in a new environment. Her photographs show how local businesses became vital gathering spaces where families shared meals and reconnected with a wider community.

A family eating at Food and Flavor, 2559 Devon Avenue, Dec. 1984. CHM, ICHi-025847; Mukul Roy, photographer

Standard India Restaurant on Devon Avenue. CHM, ICHi-025788; Mukul Roy, photographer

A familiar family pastime was renting popular Bollywood films from neighborhood grocery stores. These video kiosks were fixtures in South Asian supermarkets during the 1980s, offering a shared connection to home and culture for many newly arrived families.

Video rental kiosk at Food and Flavor, 2559 Devon Avenue, Nov. 1984. CHM, ICHi-189095; Mukul Roy, photographer

In addition to her documentary work in Chicago, Roy developed a career as a freelance photojournalist. She contributed to publications such as India Tribune and the Chicago Tribune, and her assignments took her back to India. In 1984, she returned to India and photographed Prime Minister Indira Gandhi shortly before her assassination. That same year, she captured a memorial march held in Chicago in Gandhi’s honor. Roy also covered significant political moments, including White House visits by South Asian leaders and dignitaries.

Devon Avenue memorial march for Indira Gandhi, October 31, 1984. CHM, ICHi-061457; Mukul Roy, photographer

In the early 1990s, Mukul Roy held her first solo show, “Asian Indians in Chicago,” at the Chicago Cultural Center, organized by the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs. She also exhibited at Artemisia Gallery, an alternative art space active during that period. More recently, her work was featured in the archival exhibition What is Seen and Unseen: Mapping South Asian American Art in Chicago, at the South Asia Institute in 2024.

Her Devon Avenue portfolio is housed in the collection of the Chicago History Museum and is also featured in the electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. These accomplishments highlight Roy’s important legacy in capturing and preserving early South Asian diasporic history in Chicago.

The rest of CHM’s collection of Roy’s photographs can be viewed at the Abakanowicz Research Center during regular research hours. 

Bibliography

• Emily Eller, Mukul Roy Interview, 2011.
• “Indians,” Encyclopedia of Chicago, Chicago Historical Society.
• Maria Nilsson, “Passionate Explorer: An Inquisitive Mind Pushes Past Cultural Barriers,” Chicago Tribune, July 29, 1990.
• Ilana A. Rodriguez, “Devon Avenue Is a Feast for the Senses—and the Soul—of Chicago’s South Asian Community,” Chicago Sun-Times, November 25, 2022.
• Mukul Roy, portfolio of Indian Immigrants, 24 photographic prints, black-and-white, 1984, Chicago History Museum Collection.
• South Asian American Policy & Research Institute, Making Data Count: South Asian Americans in the 2010 Census with Focus on Illinois (Chicago: SAAPRI, 2013).
• Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova, “Indian Immigrants in the United States,” Migration Policy Institute, July 11, 2006.