An exciting new beginning

When I first joined Shutters in 2003, the premises at 20 Canham Rd were owned by Andrew, who started the company in the early 90’s. The studio was much bigger then, a 1000 sq ft shoot floor, darkroom space, a flurry of assistants. This quickly changed as the property was sold and we have moved to the smaller studio at the front where you can find me now.

Times were uncertain for a while, as the switch to digital took its toll. Many local film labs went out of business overnight. The growing pains of digital, with its early shortcomings and the expense of staying up to date with technology that seemed to advance every month, put a strain on the business. It made sense to scale down while we get our bearings. Besides, digital turned out to need a lot less space. The sets simplified, Photoshop stepped in where we’d previously needed a rig of rods and fishing line holding up multiple bag handles at a time. Still life photography changed as the bulk of work appeared to shift into the post-production room. Once the dust settled and the constant chase to upgrade the gear slowed down, we enjoyed a few years of simply working. When Andrew retired, I took on the full scope of small business challenges and enjoyed it in its entirety. Since then, we’ve had a pandemic and a recession. Now the threat of Ai forcing us to evolve, it felt like another chapter was creeping up for a while.

So when the premises became available for sale, a number of paths presented themselves, but none were as attractive, as staying firmly put and growing from where the roots already run deep. And so, Shutters will remain at 20 Canham Rd, with plans to renovate the old, large studio space and turn it into a wonderful production area available for hire, as well as an extension to the current setup. With an infinity wall, air conditioning, and lounge, it will bring a lot more flexibility for model shoots, gallery showings or workshops. Hopefully, it will become a helpful addition to the local artistic community in times where creative spaces are rapidly disappearing.

It will take a little while and a lot of hard work to pull it together on a tight budget but I’m really excited to take this on.