Don’t Smile Please, Your Smartphone Is Killing My Camera

On National Camera Day, a look at how the selfie craze is killing the business of photography at tourist spots.

When was the last time you visited a tourist spot and posed, while a professional photographer clicked a well-composed shot of you? The rise of smartphone photography has sounded the death knell for the traditional photography industry. On National Camera Day, The Quint spoke to seven tourist photographers from four popular tourist spots in India. How has smartphone photography affected their trade? How are they keeping their profession alive? Take a look:

Prabhat Singh Pal – Taj Mahal, Agra

Prabhat Singh Pal picked up photography when he was a child. Pal says that he has never seen such a slump in business in the 40-plus years that he has been in it. “Today, people click photos on their own, especially selfies. So very few people hire us to click their photos,” he says.

What bothers us the most is that we get no support from the government. Their refusal to renew our license has lead to distress among the photographers here.

Prabhat Singh Pal

“From 243 photographers working at the Taj Mahal, the number has gone down to 211,” he says.

Madan Mohan – Taj Mahal, Agra

Madan Mohan, who works at the Taj Mahal, has been a photographer for four decades. Having helped thousands of tourists get the perfect shot over the years, Mohan loves photography with a passion.

Mohan, who hails from a family of photographers, chose photography over education.

I am an illiterate who chose photography over education. It’s my family profession and 40 years have gone by clicking photos. Today, everyone has a mobile phone and they are content with clicking selfies. They rarely come to us to get clicked. Honestly, they are self-sufficient now.

Ajay Sen – Khajuraho,

Madhya Pradesh

Ajay Sen has been a photographer for ten years. But the 35-year-old does not want his son to join the profession because he believes there is no future there. “I have been in this profession for the past 10 years. Passion led to profession, and that’s how I took up photography,” he says.

I don’t want my son to join this profession. Smartphones have made things easy but they have made earning in this profession difficult. My household is dependent on my income. Earlier I would earn Rs 400- 500 per day but today, earnings have gone down to Rs 200 to 300 per day.”

Sajad Ahmad Akhoon –Mughal Gardens, Jammu and Kashmir

Sajad earned a diploma in photography before setting up his own business in 2011. At the famed Mughal Gardens on the banks of Dal Lake, Sajad has set up a collection of pherans to entice tourists into capturing the memories of their visit in traditional Kashmiri attire.

"I wanted to make a living. There was a photographer in my locality who encouraged me to take up photography and help him cover marriage ceremonies,” he says.

Business is good but it was better when I started out. Today, our prospects look bleak due to the situation in the Valley. With the rise of mobile photographers, the way things are going, I may have to look for other avenues to sustain my living.

Mohit Srivastava – India Gate, Delhi

Three years ago, Mohit Srivastava left his job at an export factory in Okhla to pursue a career in photography. “It was my cousin who taught me how to pose and click photos,” says the father of one who took up photography in the hope that it would help him make ends meet.

Business was good back then and I used to earn somewhere between Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200 a day, but now things have changed.

“Smartphone use has been a major hit to our business,” says Srivastava.

I have a wife and a kid to take care of and if the trend continues, I may have to give up photography.

Ravi Singh – India Gate, Delhi

Ravi Singh, who hails from Agra, clicked his first ever photograph two years ago. While Singh admits that the smartphone wave has affected his trade, he believes this is restricted to only a few sections of society.

“Business is affected mostly because of the middle class, that can afford to buy phones with good cameras. The rich like DSLRs. People from lower income groups either have phones with poor quality cameras, or they have no phones at all. So we still have work,” Singh says.

It gets difficult to work during summers but we work through the year, whether it’s hot, humid, wet or cold.

“My day starts at 10 am in the morning and ends at 10 pm when the gates are closed,” Singh says. When does he take the day off? “The only leave I take is during the week around Republic Day when the whole area is cordoned off.”

Ravi Kumar – India Gate, Delhi

Ravi Kumar has spent a major part of his life travelling across Delhi. Kumar has worked as a photographer at India Gate for 12 years. He is a veteran in the field but he doesn’t want his children to follow in his footsteps.

I clicked my first photo in 1998. Back then, if I clicked 20 photos of a family, they would buy all 20. Today they hardly buy 2 out of 20.

Ravi Kumar

The light in this profession is now waning. Even my family has asked me to change the profession but what can I do? I joined photography for my passion and not money. Today, when I see my son taking interest in photography, I tell him not to. There is no future in this profession.

So next time you visit any tourist destination, try and look for these photographers and get yourself clicked by them. You may not need these photos, but you’ll bring joy to the people behind the lens.