For the gadget-addicted in need of hard-to-find photography accessories or old school shooters searching for antique cameras, the many specialty shops on Rua Conselheiro Crispiniano present a delightful prospect.

This street near the Municipal Theater is populated solely by retailers focused on the ins and outs of photography—equipment (new and old), developing, classes etc. If you aren’t sure quite where to find what you’re looking for, stop in and ask at the first shop you come to: as comrades in arms, the merchants are all more than happy to direct you to the competitor stocking the item in question.

Strange connections bred from shared photo-passion often follow a visit to Conselheiro Crispiniano. You can easily end up developing black and white film with an octogenarian Japanese man in a dusty top-floor flat, if that’s your idea of fun.