Pinhole Cameraman- A Case Study

Photography: Salman Saeed

With the first light of dawn, Abdul Aziz started walking towards his workplace in Gulistan. Everyday, he wakes up as the sun rises,has something light for breakfast and starts for his work.It takes about an hour for him to get to Gulistan by foot. There was a time when people used to queue in order to get thier pictures taken by him. But for the last couple of years he has been having a difficult time getting any customers.Hardly anyone want to get their photograph taken by this man in this digital era.

He is one of the very few pinhole cameraman who can still be found. Others have left the profeesion long back and have found alternative ones. But Abdul Aziz could not take up another profession. He has to earn his living and run his family with the income that he gets by taking photographs. The profession of taking pictures with a pinhole camera has no longer any demand and the day will soon come when this profession will no longer be found.

Pinhole Cameraman

Photography: Salman Saeed

A pinhole camera is a very simple camera with no lens and a single very small aperture. Simply explained, it is a light-proof box with a small hole in one side. Light from a scene passes through this single point and projects an inverted image on the opposite side of the box. Cameras using small apertures, and the human eye in bright light both act like a pinhole camera.

There was a time when pinhole camera was used for taking photographs. It was introduced by the Nawabs in Old Dhaka. That is why most of these cameramen were found in the Old Dhaka area near the Johnson and Gulistan road.As technology keeps being upgraded, different types of more user friendly cameras became available. As a result, the demand for pinhole cameras fell. The people engaged in this profession had to give up their jobs and start looking for an alternative source of income.