Credit Crunch's Sharp Teeth

The credit crunch continues to bite - after years of credit madness, the scythe of reason is cutting swath through the those that relied on it too much. High street names that has already fallen victim to this seemingly unstoppable force include Zavvi, Wolwoorths, Adams, The Officer's Club and now Olan Mills.

I had thought that Olan Mills had gone under some time ago after the local branch stopped calling me.

Wait, did I mention that?

Seemed like not a week went by when the sorry bastards from Mills' sales department didn't ring me up and offer me something. Unlike a normal store (Zavvi, Woolys, Adams) Olan Mills' modus operandi was to offer clients sweet deals on the proviso that they gave up five of their friend's personal telephone numbers - so they could offer a similar deal.

Cold call them in other words.

Didn't matter that I'm an accomplished amateur photographer and member of a highly respected local photographic society; didn't matter that I had more gear personally and access to more skills than their entire studio had. Half my friends are professional photographers! All that mattered is that my wife or I could come in for a makeover and sitting.

Much as I feel sorry for the support staff and customers, I'm not sorry to see these fuckers go out of business. An American import - Olan Mills' operation worked like a dodgy double-glazing company and the way it extracted personal contact details from people was shameful.

The photographs were rarely up to much either: formulated to look attractive using soft light, a limited selection of accessories such as a the clichéd feather boa and massive over-softening. Olan Mills' photographs were mass-production and damaged the business for real photographers who actually employed skill and experience to produce decent portraiture.

Farewell and good riddance.