It started with the advent of Polaroid film and cameras which produced instant colour prints, a case, of wonder and amusement. And then came the earlier digital cameras expensive and with not so good resolution. However, the down slide had started. The film camera were loosing the battle slowly albeit surely. Earlier one bought the film, loaded the camera, over time exposed the 8, 12, 20 or 35 exposures of the 120, 620 or 35 MM film, every time struggling to find the right combination of the shutter speed, lens aperture and the depth of field; all depending on the ASA or the DIN rating of the film and the light conditions of the day and time.
And then came the ‘Aim and Shoot’ camera first the film and later the digital, taking out the drudgery from picture taking as also the creativity. I do recall, me back in 1952’s and 53’s, moving up and down the mountain trails of Nanital and surroundings, with my Franka Solida or the Agfa Silette, both loaded with black and white 200 ASA film, looking through the view finder, not at the lcd screens of today, seeking for a picture and not just a photo.
Pushing the exposed film roll across the counter of the Photo Shop for developing and printing, waiting anxiously with anticipation till the next evenings for the wallet with the negatives and the prints, holding the prints like a hand of playing cards, looking at one at a time; at times with dismay at the blotched result and others with excitement at the Gem in my hand: that was Romance of Photography.
Today with every thing ‘instant’ with click, view, save, delete there is no anticipation left nor any suspense felt for the expected and the unexpected, especially with the advent of the camera in phone now all and sundry have become photo artists: the romance is truly dead. Long back in 1958 with my first face to face with my future wife, the ice, during the first awkward moments between the two strangers, was broken with my handing over one black and white print after another, from my collection, to her. Each photo as it passed hands, the hands, at time, touching inadvertently, introduced the family and me to her, in pictures and in steps, one at a time. Each print, exchanged bringing us one step closer with her finally becoming my stand-in model.
Possibly in present scenario, I would have been sitting at my PC, the digital pictures appearing in a slide show, with her standing by the side, disinterested, unfocused eyes drifting around and away from the fleeting images hardly making any impact emotional or otherwise with little chance of a romance budding. With her gone and no model at hand I keep looking at my three film cameras lying desolate and unused with my Nokia camera phone in hand. Click View and Delete; the romance of photography as also the literal is truly dead; right and proper, at least for me.
Brig Lakshman Singh (Retd)
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