Expert Profiles

Ros and Martin Billingham

Founders of Billingham camera bags

Ros and Martin Billingham founded M Billingham & Co in England in 1973. The origins of the company date back to Martin making fishing bags for family and friends, word spread and soon the company was formed and selling by mail order.

Before long the company was receiving a lot of orders from New York, so one day when Martin got the opportunity to speak to one of the people from the USA who were ordering the bags he asked them what they were doing with them. It turned out that the fishing bags had developed a following amongst photographers there who were using them as camera bags. The soft waterproof construction made camera equipment easier and more discrete to carry compared to the hard cases common at the time.

As keen photographers, Ros was a wedding photographer, this was all they needed to hear. They quickly refocused the company to concentrate on making bags specifically designed to hold cameras. Of course now the rest is history – Billingham make some of the most highly regarded and loved camera bags in existence and export their products all over the world. But Ros and Martin (and their sons) are still making their bags in England.

You can order Billingham bags from their website http://www.billingham.co.uk or from numerous retailers around the world.

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All images © Ros and Martin Billingham