Afzal Hussain Fauji/ Nainital
Photography is now at the receiving end of the steady ascendency of mobile photography, throwing into uncertainty the future of photographers who eke living through photography. Things remaining bleak and even growing bleaker, the professional photographers of Nainital are now branching off into renting folk costumes to tourists.
There was a time when dozens of photographers could be seen photographing tourists at various tourist destinations. Photography was then a major self-employment profession in the lake city. However, with mobile camera photography edging out photography, the professional photographers are increasingly turning to renting the Kumaoni and Kashmiri costumes for survival. Tourists rent these folk costumes from photographers and take photos with their mobile cameras.
Photographers say that the rise of smartphone use in recent years is eating into their livelihood severely. According to a local photographer Akram Khan, previously over a hundred tourists would visit photographers daily to get their photos taken. “But now, people prefer to take photos with their mobile phones, leaving us high and dry. Things are so bad now that it is becoming increasingly difficult for a photographer to click even one photo a day for tourists. As a result, many have given up photography. Some are now earning their living by renting Kumaoni and Kashmiri costumes along the Mallital Lake,” he said.
Another photographer, Naresh Bharti, recounted the same tale of survival struggle. “The golden time of reel cameras is now gone. We are trying hard to adapt ourselves to the new grim reality for us. With survival uncertainty staring us straight in the face, we are trying to keep afloat somehow through clutching the profession of renting costumes,” he lamented.
