Cameras are lying idle

With wedding celebrations restricted or cancelled, photographers have nothing to shoot

H.B. Lokesh, a marriage photographer, purchased a new video camera recently spending about ₹ 4.5 lakh, hoping that he would make good business during this year’s marriage season. “But three-four people have cancelled the marriage orders and I am worried about clearing the loan”, said Lokesh, who is also secretary of Hassan taluk unit of Photographers’ Association. Last year, he had zero business as there were no marriages due to lockdown following the COVID-19 pandemic. The same thing is happening again. The government has restricted the number of people participating in marriages to 50. “April-May is the marriage season. As the government had often said there would not be a lockdown, I purchased a new camera. But the government imposed lockdown again, taking away our business”, he said. There are around 300 photographers in Hassan district facing similar problems. Even if people hold marriage as per the schedule, they would hire photographers for a limited time. “Earlier, we were asked to cover rituals held on the eve of marriage, not now. With only 50 people in the marriage, how many photos can we click? We can hardly produce half-an-hour video. Earlier, we used to provide them with a two-hour video, earning a decent income. Now the output will be low, reducing the revenue”, said Lokesh.