From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
As Photographers across the globe marked World Photography Day, over 500 photographers under the umbrella of Association of Professional Photographers, Kaduna State chapter have said that Amateur Photographers are threats to their business.
The Association also fingered mobile phones as a threat to professional photography, but added that pictures taken with phones have limitations compared to professional  handling of cameras.
Speaking to Journalists on  Photography Day celebration, the State Chairman of the Association, Jimoh Otaru Kabiru  said even as the Association was trying to see that Amateurs are registered members, he appealed for unity of purpose among members.
He said, “We have Amateur photographers that are threat to us , they are not registered members, they are always at the opposite side even within the Executive , they are threat to us but we are not fighting them , we are trying to see how we can bring them in,  let’s work as colleagues and speak with one voice so that outsiders will respect us.
“We met them , invited them to the association, we are not saying that they should not do this job but there should be a uniform price , some of them don’t really know what photography is , when we come together we can do more , let them come so that we can speak with one voice , we are not saying that they should not operate but let’s respect the profession .
“Most of my colleagues are saying that Android phones are threat to them but for me as a professional photographer I don’t believe that android phones are threats because it all  depends on your line of customers. 
“There are some persons who use most expensive phones but when it comes to professional they will still look for  professional photographers , some android can take good pictures but they are not built for that because I can’t even imagine someone using phone to cover his or her daughters wedding, you must involve a professional body to do that.
“So I advise my colleagues to believe in what they are doing because that is the genesis of everything, if you don’t really believe in what you do , you will not put in your best , some of my colleagues did not really believe in photography.
“I  have a story in photography, this is my 18 years in Kaduna, the person that brought me to Kaduna is never my relative, it was through this photography , my marriage and everything was as a result of photography , whatever I am today is as a result of photography. So we need to be proud of our profession.
“This Association is about 20 years old, and there are a lot of achievements because when we started , we started from a trash , we had leadership challenge, but I can now confidently tell you that we have a Secretariat of our own, when we started we were not registered but thank God that we are now registered. We can boast of about 400-500 membership strength now”