The Professional Photographer: A Dying Breed?

These days every amateur photographer has a digital SLR camera, most phones come equipped with cameras, and almost every young adult is the author of a blog. We’re in the midst of the Web 2.0 era where information and resources are available to anybody, anywhere, at anytime. Everyone has a voice, and everybody has an opinion. This has become particularly obvious in photography. Websites like Flickr allow any amateur to make their photos available to the public. Any photographer with a computer can reach a wide audience with their work. Not only can the public view these images, but creative commons licenses create an easy method for photographers to grant unlimited use of their photos and forego many of their rights as the artist. Many professionals are questioning the ethics of this.

This sudden and extreme increase in supply has a far reaching effect on a range of professions. Graphic designers, writers, and photographers all have to compete with amateurs willing to give away their work, simply for the satisfaction of saying it’s “published.” Many professionals feel this undermines the value of their own work. After all, how can one individual expect to sell his work, when it is easily available on a website by another artist for free? I often hear professional photographers complain that amateurs are diluting the value of their work. It’s a common gripe these days, as they consider it unethical and an insult to those who hope to make money in the industry.



I question this ethics argument. Selling a photo is not the right of a professional, but instead must be earned. The blame should not be placed on the amateur photographers. Instead, the professionals must look at their own work and find a way to make it valuable. We live in a free market society, and if you have a skill that is easily performed by anybody, this skill will not earn you money. Something is only worth as much as someone else is willing to pay for it.

The Web 2.0 revolution combined with the recent rise in digital photography has a variety of implications, some good, and some bad. To be a professional photographer these days you have to distinguish yourself above and beyond the level of the casual photographer. It is not the responsibility of the amateur to limit the availability of his work; it is the responsibility of the professional to offer something new and unique. Professional photographers are not a dying breed, but they are becoming a more specialized, more skilled, and more distinguished group.

Those who are going to succeed professionally in the coming years are the photographers who truly excel at their work and at their ability to market that work. The influx of amateur photographers has not hindered the professional scene, but instead provides a platform from which truly valuable and talented individuals can rise to the top. The world of professional photography has grown in a positive way over the last few years. Those who question the ethics behind this should look at their own work and question its true value.

(Note that the photos throughout this article were obtained from Flickr, with the Creative Commons License, at no cost to the writer.)

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