'Out of focus': Photographers struggle to make ends meet in smartphone era

NT Bengaluru: In an era of smartphones, life has become difficult for tourist photographers to sustain their livelihood. Gone are the days when they used to earn a decent income; now, they struggle to earn even a single rupee while positioning themselves in front of Vidhana Soudha. Photographer Devaraj KS, a native of Kanakapura, shared his struggles, saying, "I have been in the field of photography for 30 years. Earlier, I used to earn around Rs 5,000 per day, but now it’s hard to even make Rs 500 a day.

The reason is that no one is interested in keeping hard copies of photos anymore, as everyone has a smartphone. They don’t even let us get close to them. Photography is our only option for survival since we are stuck in this business for long. At 56 years, who will give me a job now? My age and health issues prevent me from doing other work.” ''We have to work all week, and we take only one or two days to rest in a month. Whether it’s a hot or rainy day, we come here and work. Only a few people who understand photography or are aware of our struggles let us take photos. Most of the people who pay us are from rural areas, especially from North Karnataka.

Every day, we hope that someone from North Karnataka come here,'' he added. Speaking about the impact of the digital age, photographer Lokesh from Tumakuru, who is 47, said, "The online platform has affected many business sectors today as everything has become digitized. People no longer have an interest in taking physical photos; they only want digital copies. This has reduced the value of printed photographs. In the past, families would take pictures, frame them, and display them in their homes, but now no one is interested in doing that. My brother was a photographer, and under his guidance, I became one too. I’ve been in this field for 23 years, but now people rarely approach us. We have many commitments to our families, like supporting our children's education, but what we earn today is gone the next day.

We can’t even save anything." A few photographers have resorted to pleading with tourists to take their pictures for just Rs 50, with bargaining bringing down the amount to Rs 40. Several want the government to provide financial support for their families in future. There are around 10 licensed photographers at Vidhana Soudha.