Welcome to Ron's Rants
I thought I would start off my new "Rants" blog with a reprint of an article I wrote for the ASMP Houston Newsletter back in 1983. I have not changed a word of the text except to fix a few punctuation and spelling errors. With the advent of the ubiquitous digital camera, these words seem even more relevant today. And thanks to Thaine Manske, friend and fellow photographer for digging this item out from his analog archives and snail-mailing it to me.
"EVERYBODY IS A PHOTOGRAPHER"
© 1983 Ron Scott
I’ll bet someone you know is a photographer. I'm not talking about a fellow ASMP member or other full time professional. I mean one of the many who have found it fashionable just being a photographer It seems everywhere I turn up pops another photographer. Here's an example. I recently moved into a new house and had to have the floors redone. On the second or third day the man the floor company sent over to do the work mentioned that he had overheard me say something about "my studio". I said that I was a photographer. He stopped his work and sat up and declared "Oh really? I'm a photographer too"! I said "Oh" and he continued, saying that he did a lot of "Playboy photography". He said that he probably had about 10,000 negatives on file but was "too busy" now to ever print any up. He never made it clear whether or not he ever actually had any work published or what he meant by "Playboy photography". My guess was that he had convinced a few ladies to lose their laundry on several occasions. The rest I didn't want to know.
Now here is a guy who earns his groceries refinishing floors and cleaning carpet making maybe five bucks an hour enjoying the fashion of being a photographer. Not a weekend snapshooter mind you but a working professional, dropping the name of a major publication and boasting a file of negatives that would make most real pros envious. Maybe this doesn't sound ridiculous to you but what if he had sat up and said he was a brain surgeon, or a lawyer, or an architect? I think most people would have burst out laughing. It would be inconceivable to most that someone with the skills of an architect or doctor would have to earn his living doing stoop labor. The fact that almost anyone can declare that he or she is a photographer and be accepted as such shows how much what we do is considered a profession. Since the word photographer defines almost anyone capable of getting an image on film, it makes the demarcation between professional and amateur very fuzzy. Rarely does anyone announce that he or she is an amateur photographer to maintain the distinction. And since almost anyone who has spent any time with a camera has been tempted to earn a few bucks with it the distinction is even fuzzier.
Unfortunately this ambiguity confounds our profession. It creates and supports the image that what we do is not a business or profession, but a recreation for which we accept payment. Often we as pros are made to feel guilty for taking money for something that we would otherwise do for the pleasure of it. That guilt can cloud our thinking when it comes to pricing our services. And that is exactly what it is intended to do, intimidate us into giving our work away. The pressures are subtle but they are there urging us to take less and do more. Clients can always find someone who is (or claims to be) a photographer who will do it for less. Or so we think. If the line between professional and weekend amateur were clearly drawn, I don't think these clients could find as many cheap substitutes. We must work to make it clear that a professional photographer is one with special knowledge, training and experience with a definite commitment to the craft and that the majority of his or her income is derived from it. All the other photographers are merely amateurs and should be labeled as such. And we should help our clients to understand that far the money they spend, no matter how little, they should accept nothing less than professional photography.
As a final note I would like to mention that the floor man was not the only photographer I heard about that week. My next door neighbor's wife it turns out is a photographer as well as the wife of the previous tenant and the brother of the telephone installer. I didn't get a chance to talk to the HL&P serviceman or the guy from the water company or I might have learned of a few more photographers.
"EVERYBODY IS A PHOTOGRAPHER"
© 1983 Ron Scott
I’ll bet someone you know is a photographer. I'm not talking about a fellow ASMP member or other full time professional. I mean one of the many who have found it fashionable just being a photographer It seems everywhere I turn up pops another photographer. Here's an example. I recently moved into a new house and had to have the floors redone. On the second or third day the man the floor company sent over to do the work mentioned that he had overheard me say something about "my studio". I said that I was a photographer. He stopped his work and sat up and declared "Oh really? I'm a photographer too"! I said "Oh" and he continued, saying that he did a lot of "Playboy photography". He said that he probably had about 10,000 negatives on file but was "too busy" now to ever print any up. He never made it clear whether or not he ever actually had any work published or what he meant by "Playboy photography". My guess was that he had convinced a few ladies to lose their laundry on several occasions. The rest I didn't want to know.
Now here is a guy who earns his groceries refinishing floors and cleaning carpet making maybe five bucks an hour enjoying the fashion of being a photographer. Not a weekend snapshooter mind you but a working professional, dropping the name of a major publication and boasting a file of negatives that would make most real pros envious. Maybe this doesn't sound ridiculous to you but what if he had sat up and said he was a brain surgeon, or a lawyer, or an architect? I think most people would have burst out laughing. It would be inconceivable to most that someone with the skills of an architect or doctor would have to earn his living doing stoop labor. The fact that almost anyone can declare that he or she is a photographer and be accepted as such shows how much what we do is considered a profession. Since the word photographer defines almost anyone capable of getting an image on film, it makes the demarcation between professional and amateur very fuzzy. Rarely does anyone announce that he or she is an amateur photographer to maintain the distinction. And since almost anyone who has spent any time with a camera has been tempted to earn a few bucks with it the distinction is even fuzzier.
Unfortunately this ambiguity confounds our profession. It creates and supports the image that what we do is not a business or profession, but a recreation for which we accept payment. Often we as pros are made to feel guilty for taking money for something that we would otherwise do for the pleasure of it. That guilt can cloud our thinking when it comes to pricing our services. And that is exactly what it is intended to do, intimidate us into giving our work away. The pressures are subtle but they are there urging us to take less and do more. Clients can always find someone who is (or claims to be) a photographer who will do it for less. Or so we think. If the line between professional and weekend amateur were clearly drawn, I don't think these clients could find as many cheap substitutes. We must work to make it clear that a professional photographer is one with special knowledge, training and experience with a definite commitment to the craft and that the majority of his or her income is derived from it. All the other photographers are merely amateurs and should be labeled as such. And we should help our clients to understand that far the money they spend, no matter how little, they should accept nothing less than professional photography.
As a final note I would like to mention that the floor man was not the only photographer I heard about that week. My next door neighbor's wife it turns out is a photographer as well as the wife of the previous tenant and the brother of the telephone installer. I didn't get a chance to talk to the HL&P serviceman or the guy from the water company or I might have learned of a few more photographers.
posted by Ron Scott, Photographer at 3:45 PM
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