2012 is only a few days old and it has already claimed the scalp of one of the UK’s major high street photography businesses – Double Take, bringing back the memories of Olan Mills closing a few years before.
I am particularly saddened about the demise of Double Take because it’s establishment and growth was quite an audacious and impressive business move for the owners who themselves where not photographers – either by trade or calling. And whilst there were other reputable studios such as Gloss (formerly Cover Shot) who had cornered the makeover photography market. The arrival and success of Double Take proved that with drive, imagination and wit – anything was achievable and inspired me to pursue my dream of establishing my own high street studio.
Every day we read in the papers and hear on the radio and television how the high street is perishing (and make no mistake that ‘perishing’ is quite an apt phrase). The recent report about Tesco failing to match the Christmas sales achieved in 2010 last year underlines the gravity of the situation. As a high street business I have observed the changes as they occurred over the last few years – cost of living and trading going up whilst incomes dropped off. Big high street studios have a huge challenge surviving because the cost of trading is high and most of the tools for trading in our business are quite perishable – add to that the high cost of marketing, staffing and the high incidence of failed attendances to booked shoots – I know because even as a small studio I face the same challenges every day (albeit on a much smaller scale).
As some celebrate the chance of getting a share of the pie that Double Takes demise leaves on the table, I urge caution. Every photographer, full time part time and in between must look closely at their conduct and see if they are helping to stem the drain or letting the blood out of the trade. I do not wish to be drawn on the debate of how the market is flooded with amateurs who charge next to nothing and deliver poor quality and by so doing surly the pure waters of our noble trade bringing it into disrepute – yada yada etc. The conversation I want to engage in, is how we educate our clients and get the general public to understand the difference between the pro and the amateur and why the pro deserves his fee. It is like football – it has leagues and divisions and most people understand the difference.
We are collectively part of the cause of our troubles – the established pros who fleece the amateurs with dubious training programmes that encourage them to go out after a one or two day course and tout themselves as pros having been equipped with images that were set up by a pro including lighting and posing even the camera settings used. All the amateurs had to do was press the shutter and two days later they have a portfolio to put on their site or show potential clients – they have no real experience – which can only be gained or mastered over time through trial and error, refining and revising the processes we employ until one arrives at an understanding that is consistently reliable and proven.
So in closing, – let us take a moment to mourn the passing of Double Take and other photography studio giants who fell before. Like gladiators in a theatre of war, we must recognise that nothing is certain, some we win and some we don’t. The choice is how we want to go out, blazing a trail of glory (as Double Take did for a while) or quietly disappear unfulfilled or noticed.
by John Okpala
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