Tags: Consumer Electronics
by Alexander Villafania
MANAOAG, PANGASINAN — In the early 60s in the Philippines, when handheld cameras were mostly luxury items, a few enterprising photographers took to the streets offering to take photos for a small fee. It was a lucrative business back then. Towards the 1980s when film cameras became cheaper, these street photographers saw their business going on a decline and so they limited their services to parks and churches.
Into the new millennium, these photographers remain staples in public areas with a lot of foot traffic. They continue to ply their trade even as film cameras were put aside to be replaced by digital cameras and mobile phones with integrated cameras.
The church of Manaoag in Pangasinan is one of the many churches where street photographers can be seen. They still carry with them their down-beaten analog film cameras – which, by the way, could still command high prices if sold to collectors of vintage cameras. Aside from their cameras, they also bring with them samples of their services. These include regular shots of churchgoers and edited photos, albeit badly, of people standing in front of renowned spots in Manaoag.
Photos cost P80 to P100 a pop so it’s cheaper to get a family photo to maximize the cost. As a bonus, they’d even add a carton frame with a stand so these can be put up on a table upon arriving home. You have to wait for 15 to 20 minutes though for the photos to be developed (they have their own developing machine inside the church grounds).
They seem unperturbed by the fact that most of the people going to Manaoag have cameras ready. In fact, many of the churchgoers have digital cameras integrated into their mobile phones for easy picture taking. One would think that they’d go out of business, having to compete with cheap and easily replaceable digital cameras but it seems they’re still thriving even in the face of analog’s extinction against digital.
“It’s unique to them to have a photo taken with a backdrop of the Church even when they’re not exactly in front of it.” Rudy added that business has always been fairly ok with them. “We also have our sons take over the business.”
Even now, there are more digital cameras being sold in the Philippines. There’s no absolute figure pointing to the number of sold digital cameras but just ask Canon Philippines which has been posting positive sales of its digital camera line in the past five years. Mon Arteficio, the former head of Canon Philippines, once told me that they were about to stop selling their film cameras.
Not surprisingly, prices of film cameras have been fairly decreasing over the years. One can now buy a film camera for less than P500. In fact, many Filipinos still own film cameras as they cannot buy digital units. There are also film photography enthusiasts, especially those from Lomographic Embassy and Lomo Manila. These could be reasons why Kodak claims that it is still selling millions of film rolls in the country.
Perhaps that’s an indication why there are still film photographers in Manaoag, or other places of worship in all parts of the Philippines. They are addressing a unique market that will be around for quite a while.
Beauty and Hygiene Child Health and Growth Clothing Consumer Electronics Consumer Goods and Concerns Family Family Health Concerns Fashion Footwear Furniture Games and Hobbies Health issues Home Appliances Household Care and Cleanliness Household Products Internet Mobile Lifestyle Parenting Personal Finance Pets Physical Wellness Religion Spa and Massage Special Occasions Spiritual Wellness Technology Industry Toys
WP Cumulus Flash tag cloud by Roy Tanck and Luke Morton requires Flash Player 9 or better.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
