The Demise Of The World's Oldest Photo Studio (@qz)

From Quartz, a story about the end of Bourne and Shepherd, the 176-year-old photo studio in Kolkata, India:

I meet scores of people who ask me the same things and I always have the same answers. I had nothing to do at the studio anymore. There weren’t any customers I could talk to either. The world over, photography, especially artistic photography, is dying out. There is no future in it anymore.

Sad, interesting, poignant, inevitable.

Gandhi, who is held in high esteem by those who swear by his knowledge of equipment and photography, never took up photographic assignments, but preferred to build relationships with his customers. “I belong to that school of thought that treats its customers with utmost respect,” he said. “Even if they do not end up buying anything, they should have a good experience at the studio. A positive word-of-mouth publicity is the best you can get in this business.” The philosophy, along with the art of photography, was severely tested in the world of impersonal shopping malls and ill-informed staff.

Also sad, interesting, poignant… and I hope impersonal shopping malls and ill-informed staff are not the enduring aspects of the world we are left with as these old-school institutions die off.

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