I've been feeling this way for the past few weeks. I'm well used to inspiration dropping every January/February, due mainly to the short days and gloomy weather in Scotland, but I've also been a bit down due to the lack of enquiries for wedding photography. It doesn't help when I come across blogs by photographers who sneer at the efforts of "amateurs", or read certain local wedding photographers' websites where they use scare tactics against the "amateur" competition. The problem is, of course, that since I am aware that I have had no formal training in photography, and that I do not yet have a well-established business with studio space, I have a tendency to view myself as one of these "amateurs".
But who are amateurs? People who have bought some nice digital camera equipment and software and think, "Oh, this is a dawdle, I'll see if I can make some money with this"? People who venture into a respected profession of high-minded individuals with no concern of the years of training, the technical and people skill required or the sheer risk of bringing the very high reputation of the photography industry to its knees? That's what established "professional" photographers would like me and every other "amateur" to think.
It's all utter nonsense, and I have to keep reminding myself of this every day. Face it folks, photography is up for grabs. You are not doctors, surgeons, pilots, engineers, scientists or captains of industry. Your work is not a matter of life and limb. Without it, the human race will not suffer, perish or even notice. It's because of very clever and important people that you have the technology that you use. You are simply artists who manipulate the technology at hand, and while it's all very nice and uplifting to the spirit, it is not an industry that requires only geniuses and highly trained individuals. There's a lot of people out there taking photos for sheer pleasure and in many cases, they're better than you.
That's what's really scaring the "professionals". Gone are the days of needing skills with film processing, or holding the negatives demanding payment before anyone sees a print. It's all so readily achieved by ordinary people in their homes; people who would never have understood Ektachromes or fixers and can now display and sell their work online; people who take amazingly great photographs without being pompous or arrogant.
There are no amateurs. There are no professionals. There are only good photographers and bad photographers. Yes, there are good photographers who aren't cut to do weddings. Likewise, I've seen many wedding photographers who are good at the time, yet produce lousy photos. Every, I repeat, EVERY "professional" started as an amateur. How far would you have gotten if you had established photographers looking down at you and poo-pooing your every effort.
I'm not listening to your arrogance. Your scare tactics are not taking effect. I will make every effort to continue as I started - as a photographer.
I would recommend reading the following blogs. First here at Virtual Photography Studio. I don't particularly agree with the blog post but read the comment from Kevin Schneider. I would also highly recommend Pixelated Image who says better what I've been trying to say here.
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Hi,
ReplyDeleteI just stumbled across this post and thought I would add my comment.
I have been a "professional" editorial photographer for over 25 years (the last 10 years as a freelance) and I have no problem with amateur photographers joining the industry. You are correct when you say that it is not a "life or death" profession and there are many amateur photographers out there that far outshine the pro's in their respective fields.
The problems begin to arise when you see amateur photographers charging low rates for their work. Believe me I see this all of the time. I now work in Spain but when I worked in Scotland I knew of one "wedding" photographer (actually he was a taxi driver but shot weddings at weekends) who charged 350 quid for a full-day shoot. He had no personal liability insurance, he did not provide invoices /(all work was done for cash) and therefore paid no tax on his income and he advertised his services in the newspaper as a Pro Wedding Service despite having no great skill in the medium. I would imagine that any tax paying professional wedding photographer would be more than annoyed at cowboys like this stealing their work at reduced rates. If an amateur wants to make money from photography then let him or her pay the same taxes, bank fees, accountancy fees, insurance costs etc, and then see what sort of rate they charge for their work.
Thanks for the comment Brian. Yes, I agree with you. Every business has its cowboys and I certainly not sticking up for them. When I started to do wedding photography seriously, I had hoped to keep my costs way down (though not as much as these bargain basement prices), but I quickly learnt that time spent is the major factor in charging for a service. I'm also all for legitimate businesses paying their taxes!
ReplyDeleteMy main point of this post wasn't to get at professional photographers who provide an excellent service, or to champion complete novices trying to be more than they are. The point was to encourage myself, and others, who are seriously attempting to break into a market where we come across a constant barrage of elitist snobbery.
Good post. I suspect that IBM first considered Microsoft to be scruffy amateurs; that Microsoft thought the same about Google; and I know for a fact that a certain British national newspaper editor fearlessly predicted that interest in the internet wouldn't last because people would get tired of sitting staring at computer monitors.
ReplyDeleteSo don't mind too much about the traditionalists resistant to change - if they don't adapt to the new challenges of the digital age, they'll die. In photography's case, that means the professionals will just have to get used to gifted amateurs mucking up their profit margins. Art has been irreversibly democratised, and in the end the customers will vote with their feet (or wallets) which of we artists shall survive.....