Professional photographers decry smartphones taking over their business
By Nambu Bernadette Franka
The rapid rise of smartphones over the years has a great impact on photographer’s business.
Some photographers have complained about the negative effects of smartphones on their businesses, indicating that they no longer have customers like before.
“We are proud to be photographers, but with smartphones, the business of photography is dwindling because most people prefer to use their phones to take pictures, especially `selfies’. They prefer using their phones to snap and post on social media directly than get the services of a photographer,” a professional photographer, Cham Henry told CNA.
He however noted that although the threat of smartphones is looming over the business, they haven’t conquered the affordability problem yet.
“Getting a smartphone that can take very good pictures, entails a lot of money. It’s almost the same price as a camera,” he said.
According to Ateh Bonaventure, “Smartphone users at times see no need getting the services of a photographer since they have their pictures clear in their phones. That is why in most events, professional photographers are hardly solicited,”.
He further stated that smartphone cameras are ‘here to stay’ but they cannot take away the importance of professional cameras.
“Despite this, their place still stands, photography is an art and will always have its place no matter the technology. Remove the picture from your phone and print it out, you will discover that the quality is not the same as that of a camera. There are still some people who understand our worth as photographers and always call us for their events to immortalize it. I call on everyone to keep trusting photographers, our grandparents understood this, and this is why they still have their pictures up to date,” he further explained.
Some Smartphone users on their part indicated that they are very comfortable using their phones as it is less costly and ‘you can post your pictures at all times and get images from anywhere.’
“I am very comfortable using my phone to take my pictures, it is less costly and very relaxed. I can’t call and book a photographer any time I want to get a picture even in my daily activities. I prefer to take pictures with my phone and even save them on my Google Drive. Printing pictures these days is very old-fashioned. I mostly schedule for a photographer when it’s an image I want to enlarge,” a smartphone user explained.
