Perspectives on Working in the Photography Industry

A while back I received an email from a person asking me about working in photography. What really struck me about the email was this line:

“…no photography jobs, I don’t care about money a lot, more about doing what I like…”

Well, here is the rub. You should never get into the photography business if you are more concerned about shooting what you want, as opposed to paying the bills. Subscribing to what I call the ‘starving artist’ model of being a photographer doesn’t help you or anyone else in the industry. You would be far better taking a totally different job and shooting exactly what you want to shoot, when you want.

Alternatively, you could start thinking about a career in photography this way…

“It’s a business. I think that’s a key component in this industry. When you are in college and you’re thinking about what sort of photographer you want to be, what you want to shoot, how you’re going to shoot it and how you’re going to put your personality into the work, that’s all fine but in the end it’s totally a business.”

Spencer Heyfron in a great interview with Rob Haggart over at A Photo Editor.

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