Photomasks, a new trend for Covid-wary Barodians

Vadodara: Until a few days ago, politician Nilesh Brahmbhatt was a perturbed man — to wear a mask or not to wear — was his biggest dilemma. Everytime he had to meet the public, he was forced to remove the protective gear for recognition. But that was until last week. Now, Brahmbhatt is at eace wearing his ‘face’ over his face.
Many Barodians too have started customizing their face masks with their photos.
“We have to meet people and also move around in public areas daily. When I used to wear the simple cloth mask, people often didn’t recognize me until I had to remove my mask. But it was also risky. And then I heard about this tailor-made mask from a friend and immediately ordered it,” said the Congress leader, talking to TOI.
“Now, there is no fear of not being recognized and I am also safe and more comfortable in public,” he added.
“During the lockdown, I noticed people kept removing the face masks to talk to people or for recognizing each other. That is when I came up with the idea of printing photos of the individuals on their masks. When the lockdown ended last month, I began making such masks,” said Pinkesh Patel, an entrepreneur.
“We click high resolution pictures of the individual who place orders for such masks. The portion of nose and jaws is then printed on the cotton material in the same size as the actual face. People have been calling me up asking for such masks over the last few days,” Patel added.
Dhairya Joshi, a photographer, said that such face-over-face masks also ensure one’s safety.
“Since the time I began wearing this mask, I don’t have to remove it. This ensures that everybody, including me, is safe while interacting,” Joshi said.
The trend is gradually catching up and users claim that the material of the mask is also skin friendly.
“We began printing masks with individual faces towards the end of May and over last few days, we have been selling about 30 such masks every day,” said Naresh Thavdani, who is in business of selling fabric.