We see images everywhere, on posters, on sidewalks and in the sides of trucks and buses. They are so ubiquitous that we often don't notice them. It is the very success of photography that means that it is largely overlooked and definitely undervalued. Yet every one of those pictures has been imagined, shot and then positioned with care and attention. Whether it is a soap powder advertisement or a shot of last night's hockey game, every picture is created to tell a story. The fact that we don't need to read the headlines, or in some cases even know the context, just shows how tuned into photos we really are.
Yet with the advent of the camera phone and inexpensive digital photography, it appears that anyone can take a fabulous photograph. These amateur images flood social media sites, are loaded onto thousands of emails and help to define peoples' public personas. Any public event is crowded with iPhone, iPad and camera phone coverage. No website or facebook page is complete without having these grainy, unfocussed, out of context photographs. The bald truth is that basic photography is now more accessible than it has ever been - and relatively cheap. The camera phones that are on the market now could compete comfortably with the professional DSLRs from a few years ago and are a lot more flexible. So does is all this picture taking technology and these budding photo-journalists really spell the nemesis of professional photography?
The quote "Got an iPhone - now I am a photographer" strikes despair amongst the photographic industry, as professional photographers see their incomes wither and their commission rates cut. It may be hard to think that professional photography has any leif left in it at all. But we need to realize that the Facebook photographers are usually recording what happens in front of them, rather than producing photos. Their grainy, out of focus pictures represent their memories of the event itself and are just as short-lived. If they want an image to last for years and still make them smile, or they need a picture to strike a chord with people outside their clique, they will need an image that was created, considered and shot with the highest quality in mind.
So is the profession of photographer doomed? You might think so if you discuss it with them. Editorial photographers specifically have taken a beating as print media try to cut costs and rely more heavily on free content. Newspapers and magazines can now access any number of image sources online and retrieve exactly what they want immediately. The need to hire a professional to photograph a stock image, or to send a photographer to an event 'just in case' has disappeared.
Advertising and PR photography are also suffering as companies contract and are able to find stock images from the web. However there are niches which, whilst suffering from the economic situation, are otherwise healthy. Wedding and family photography, special event photography and even animal photography still offer the potential to earn a photographera living - because people will always want quality when it involves something that really matters to them.
It is sad to see that many editorial photographers still belittle this kind of photography. These are the guys who have been the most adaptable over the years - not just in terms of their commissions, but also in adapting the new technology and requirements. They switched from film to digital from dark rooms to photoshop and from wire machines to laptops in what seemed to be hardly any time at all. Now they need to re-channel their energies once more to locate - and in some cases create - new demand for their profession. They may need to spread their skills across stills and video, photograph weddings and kittens, and provide memory sticks or web downloads, to keep up with what is expected, but there are photographers already who are supplying these services and they are prospering. The Profession of photographer is not dying, it is evolving and the fittest will survive.
Yet with the advent of the camera phone and inexpensive digital photography, it appears that anyone can take a fabulous photograph. These amateur images flood social media sites, are loaded onto thousands of emails and help to define peoples' public personas. Any public event is crowded with iPhone, iPad and camera phone coverage. No website or facebook page is complete without having these grainy, unfocussed, out of context photographs. The bald truth is that basic photography is now more accessible than it has ever been - and relatively cheap. The camera phones that are on the market now could compete comfortably with the professional DSLRs from a few years ago and are a lot more flexible. So does is all this picture taking technology and these budding photo-journalists really spell the nemesis of professional photography?
The quote "Got an iPhone - now I am a photographer" strikes despair amongst the photographic industry, as professional photographers see their incomes wither and their commission rates cut. It may be hard to think that professional photography has any leif left in it at all. But we need to realize that the Facebook photographers are usually recording what happens in front of them, rather than producing photos. Their grainy, out of focus pictures represent their memories of the event itself and are just as short-lived. If they want an image to last for years and still make them smile, or they need a picture to strike a chord with people outside their clique, they will need an image that was created, considered and shot with the highest quality in mind.
So is the profession of photographer doomed? You might think so if you discuss it with them. Editorial photographers specifically have taken a beating as print media try to cut costs and rely more heavily on free content. Newspapers and magazines can now access any number of image sources online and retrieve exactly what they want immediately. The need to hire a professional to photograph a stock image, or to send a photographer to an event 'just in case' has disappeared.
Advertising and PR photography are also suffering as companies contract and are able to find stock images from the web. However there are niches which, whilst suffering from the economic situation, are otherwise healthy. Wedding and family photography, special event photography and even animal photography still offer the potential to earn a photographera living - because people will always want quality when it involves something that really matters to them.
It is sad to see that many editorial photographers still belittle this kind of photography. These are the guys who have been the most adaptable over the years - not just in terms of their commissions, but also in adapting the new technology and requirements. They switched from film to digital from dark rooms to photoshop and from wire machines to laptops in what seemed to be hardly any time at all. Now they need to re-channel their energies once more to locate - and in some cases create - new demand for their profession. They may need to spread their skills across stills and video, photograph weddings and kittens, and provide memory sticks or web downloads, to keep up with what is expected, but there are photographers already who are supplying these services and they are prospering. The Profession of photographer is not dying, it is evolving and the fittest will survive.
About the Author:
Andy James has worked in the photographic industry for over two decades. He has a particular interest in the evolution of digital photography. To learn more about the new Nikon D7100 go to his webpage. The site will also have information about the Nikon D7100 release date and offers great advice about how to Use Nikon DSLRs.
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