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Hey it's @kevinkuster posting. #jj...
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Hey it's @kevinkuster posting.
#jj community I need your help!
I just pulled up to what used to be my local photography camera store and after 75 years, they've gone out of business.
To me, this is another indicator on how powerful the mobile photography movement is and will continue to be in the future.
I am so happy to be a part of the mobile photography movement, however, I can't help but be a little sad right now.
I realize that the very thing I'm doing right now, shooting, editing and share my photo all on my phone is what killed photography stores like this.
So, here are my questions:
Will photography stores like this be missed?
Will everything that is not a mobile camera just be ordered online?
And most importantly, where do you think the future of personal photography and professional photography is going?
I look forward to reading your answers as I sit in a empty parking lot!
Goodbye Calumet and best of luck to all of their wonderful employees. Sincerely @kevinkuster.
1061 Likes on Instagram
100 Comments on Instagram:
nageshkr: Thanks for the questions, @kevinkuster ! I sympathize with Calumet.
1. Will photography stores like this be missed?
At least in India, a country of more than 1.2 Billion people, photography stores were hard to come by for a majority of them, so it is unlikely they will be missed. Yes, I do see that many in America, Asia and Europe may turn nostalgic when stores like Calumet close down. Basically, like any other business (including big ones like Kodak), each has to be relevant to the clients it serves, as time moves on
2. Will everything that is not a mobile camera just be ordered online?
That is happening, yes, but there are still some places one goes to physically...a good restaurant, a show, to the movies....so I am sure there will be specialty printing and photo development shops that will still have a moderate clientele
3. And most importantly, where do you think the future of personal photography and professional photography is going?
The analogy is books and publishing - it is easy now to write your own book electronically, then publish it on Amazon - but to make a meaningful impact, one still needs publishers and sales agents and a medium to advertise one's novels. So while everyone may imagine that the latest Samsung Galaxy S5 or the iPhone 5S will make them a professional-level photographer, discerning audiences will still separate the wheat from the chaff. There will always be a difference between personal and professional photography
butterfly109: @kevinkuster these things heavy my heart, as well, but look at it this way: everything -- everything -- is in a constant state if flux. And when changes come, possibilities open up, as well. It may be sad, but believe in the amazing possibilities and adventures that are out there for anyone whose lives have changed from this business closing -- and from the world shifting everywhere -- in photography and in everything, the Universe can imagine greater for us than we can. Trust.
carlaeez: it makes me sad that calumet is closing as i spent so much time and money there when i was a photo student at columbia college. i loved that store but haven't been there in many years. the smell of developing chemicals makes me long for a darkroom but i sometimes barely have time to edit in an app on my phone let alone a darkroom that i would have to personally take care of. change is inevitable. i will probably never use the enlargers or jobo processor that i own, but the nostalgia of it all makes me hold onto the idea that just maybe.... @kevinkuster
instagram.com/she.smiles: Yes they are missed! I'm lightweight looking for a place to develop a roll of B&w film that I found in my old camera bag. And I don't want to give it to Walmart to develop
modchik: I'm devastated that's my go to rental place I was stuck without a lens this week when I went to my local Calumet. Knowing my guys at the store they often commented that their only business was rentals, it's not that people aren't buying gear it's the sales tax issue, why pay upwards of 9% when u can buy on Amazon, Adorama or B&H with zero tax. That's why I didn't buy a used 400mm from them, 1200.00 loss of a sale.
mroseillier: I was very sad to hear the news. Normally my go to camera store is B&H for purchases , but for rentals in LA it was calumet. I knew the people behind the counter etc... I purchased a lens from them two weeks ago bc they were offering no tax , I received it in the mail just two days before they closed. Luckily I wasn't planning on returning it!
mroseillier: @rociopearce
kingdavid73: Stores mark up prices like crazy. If anything, I'd say being able to shop online is killing any specialty stores
Hey it's @kevinkuster posting. #jj...
……………………………………………………
Hey it's @kevinkuster posting.
#jj community I need your help!
I just pulled up to what used to be my local photography camera store and after 75 years, they've gone out of business.
To me, this is another indicator on how powerful the mobile photography movement is and will continue to be in the future.
I am so happy to be a part of the mobile photography movement, however, I can't help but be a little sad right now.
I realize that the very thing I'm doing right now, shooting, editing and share my photo all on my phone is what killed photography stores like this.
So, here are my questions:
Will photography stores like this be missed?
Will everything that is not a mobile camera just be ordered online?
And most importantly, where do you think the future of personal photography and professional photography is going?
I look forward to reading your answers as I sit in a empty parking lot!
Goodbye Calumet and best of luck to all of their wonderful employees. Sincerely @kevinkuster.
1061 Likes on Instagram
100 Comments on Instagram:
nageshkr: Thanks for the questions, @kevinkuster ! I sympathize with Calumet.
1. Will photography stores like this be missed?
At least in India, a country of more than 1.2 Billion people, photography stores were hard to come by for a majority of them, so it is unlikely they will be missed. Yes, I do see that many in America, Asia and Europe may turn nostalgic when stores like Calumet close down. Basically, like any other business (including big ones like Kodak), each has to be relevant to the clients it serves, as time moves on
2. Will everything that is not a mobile camera just be ordered online?
That is happening, yes, but there are still some places one goes to physically...a good restaurant, a show, to the movies....so I am sure there will be specialty printing and photo development shops that will still have a moderate clientele
3. And most importantly, where do you think the future of personal photography and professional photography is going?
The analogy is books and publishing - it is easy now to write your own book electronically, then publish it on Amazon - but to make a meaningful impact, one still needs publishers and sales agents and a medium to advertise one's novels. So while everyone may imagine that the latest Samsung Galaxy S5 or the iPhone 5S will make them a professional-level photographer, discerning audiences will still separate the wheat from the chaff. There will always be a difference between personal and professional photography
butterfly109: @kevinkuster these things heavy my heart, as well, but look at it this way: everything -- everything -- is in a constant state if flux. And when changes come, possibilities open up, as well. It may be sad, but believe in the amazing possibilities and adventures that are out there for anyone whose lives have changed from this business closing -- and from the world shifting everywhere -- in photography and in everything, the Universe can imagine greater for us than we can. Trust.
carlaeez: it makes me sad that calumet is closing as i spent so much time and money there when i was a photo student at columbia college. i loved that store but haven't been there in many years. the smell of developing chemicals makes me long for a darkroom but i sometimes barely have time to edit in an app on my phone let alone a darkroom that i would have to personally take care of. change is inevitable. i will probably never use the enlargers or jobo processor that i own, but the nostalgia of it all makes me hold onto the idea that just maybe.... @kevinkuster
instagram.com/she.smiles: Yes they are missed! I'm lightweight looking for a place to develop a roll of B&w film that I found in my old camera bag. And I don't want to give it to Walmart to develop
modchik: I'm devastated that's my go to rental place I was stuck without a lens this week when I went to my local Calumet. Knowing my guys at the store they often commented that their only business was rentals, it's not that people aren't buying gear it's the sales tax issue, why pay upwards of 9% when u can buy on Amazon, Adorama or B&H with zero tax. That's why I didn't buy a used 400mm from them, 1200.00 loss of a sale.
mroseillier: I was very sad to hear the news. Normally my go to camera store is B&H for purchases , but for rentals in LA it was calumet. I knew the people behind the counter etc... I purchased a lens from them two weeks ago bc they were offering no tax , I received it in the mail just two days before they closed. Luckily I wasn't planning on returning it!
mroseillier: @rociopearce
kingdavid73: Stores mark up prices like crazy. If anything, I'd say being able to shop online is killing any specialty stores