Shutterbugs sell veggies, fruits to eke out a living

In order to make ends meet, professional photographers in Kodagu have taken to selling vegetables during the lockdown period as religious and cultural programmes have been cancelled, leaving them unemployed.

While functions such as marriages, birthday functions, engagements, house warming ceremonies, temple fairs and sports events have been either postponed or cancelled, more than 200 photographers in the district have no work.

Their studios have been closed. Most of them are confined to their homes. Some photographers have returned to their villages to carry out farming. In order to earn the daily bread, several others have been selling vegetables and fruits.

They said that their lives could turn normal only after the lockdown was lifted. Traditionally, the season of marriage and house warming comprises months of March, April and May. Most of the functions scheduled in these months, have been postponed to October, which means that fewer functions will be held between June and September.

Many photographers had rented studios and as there is no income, they are finding it difficult to pay the rent. Several photographers had availed loans for video cameras and still cameras. The loans should be waived-off, they said.

Many photographers in Kushalnagar have been selling vegetables and fruits.

K G Pramod, proprietor of Konica Colour Lab, has been selling watermelons. He said that he was depending on the profession of photography for his livelihood. He has to pay house rent and therefore, is into door-to-door selling. March to May was our busiest time as photographers. As the lockdown has been imposed due to Covid-19, a major share of income has gone, he said.

Photographers, who had been doing outdoor photography and shooting at the tourist destinations, are also hit due to the lockdown.

As Kodagu is blessed with bountiful nature, many newly wed couples would come to the tourist spots, fetching some income for photographers. Owing to the lockdown, all the tourist spots wear a deserted look without visitors.