Nayagarh: “Smile please…ready one, two, three”, and then a light flashes with a click. This is something that all those born in the ‘90s and before must have experienced when they along with their families posed for a black and white or colour photograph at a studio. Those days there used to be professional photographers behind the lens.
Times have changed. Queues are no longer seen at studios. After the arrival of camera phones, everyone is a photographer. We are clicking our photos with mobile phones and we are at liberty to take our photos as we please. There are also some apps that have made the job of making the clicked photos beautiful and our job easier.
Without losing any moment, we also upload the photos on social media and then anxiously wait to see how many likes they get. This gives us the satisfaction that we have become photographers. But we are amateurs.
There are some professional photographers in the district with whom Orissa POST had a talk on the occasion of World Photography Day.
According to Kanha Swain, a photographer, he bought a Kodak reel camera for Rs 800. He got an earful from his elders.
“The passion for photography became my profession and I am earning my livelihood from it. Photos are not good or bad by themselves. Every photo has a story that earns appreciation,” says Kanha.
Ask Biswanath Behera, another name in photography in the district. Asked how the passion for photography grew in him, his answer is that the lens has the unique ability to capture the beauties of nature which are momentary.
A photographer hailing from Darpanarayanpur, Chandan Routray, says the demand for professional photography has increased manifold. Earlier, marriages were only video recorded. Now, families engage photographers to click memorable moments whatever the cost. I can say for sure that now a photographer can live a decent life with this profession, adds Chandan.
During a formal chit chat on the profession, Balabhadra Swain of Sarankul said he became a photographer in 1987.
“Earlier, I used to work at a studio. Now I work independently. I had the opportunity to take the photos of many eminent personalities like former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik and Prime Minister Narendra Modi when they visited the district. My profession has won me many awards and that is encouraging,” he added.
PNN