Is amateur photography dead? In a smartphone world, are we all professionals?
I’ve got some serious competition. According to Phototutorial.com, the average smartphone user in the US takes 20.2 photos per day, and around 1.72 trillion photos are taken each year around the world. That is an insane amount of pictures. So the big question is; does taking all those photos make you a photographer?
For this video we’re going to present both sides of the argument. I’m going to have Erik give you the yes argument. He’s going to tell you why anyone can indeed be a photographer. I’m going to tell you why I think that it takes more than a I-phone 14 Pro to be considered a professional. We’ll do this point/counter-point style, I’ll let Erik get us started.
Erik: Hi everyone, good to see you again. My first point is the accessibility of photography now. I can watch David Manning’s video on Youtube, and “Learn 80% of photography in 10 minutes”. My smartphone has a camera that’s more powerful than any digital camera you could get 20 years ago. With so much knowledge and equipment so easy to get, I feel like I can take professional level photos.
Sena: It’s true, you don’t need the specialized technical knowledge you once did. 100 years ago you basically had to be an engineer and a chemist to take a photo, now you just need to push a button. But let me remind you that knowledge and ability are very different. When you dedicate yourself to a skill for years, and fully immerse yourself in it, you gain the experience needed to get to continue to level up.
Erik: I get that, I do. But even if my photo isn’t that great, with all the filters and editing programs I can access for free, my photos don’t need to be perfect. I can take an average photo and make it into something that a pro would be proud of. Technology can fake experience.
Sena: But don’t professionals also edit their photos? A scene that’s well composed, with proper camera settings to maximize the light, will always come out of editing better. To use the tech term, garbage in garbage out. Without the eye, the experience to know when and where to open that shutter, software can’t save you.
Erik: Ok ok, last point. My mom says my photos are the best. And I get like, a ton of likes when I post them. Doesn’t that mean my pictures are just as good as anybody’s?
Sena: I’m sure your pictures are great at documenting and communicating what you’re doing, and people love to be included in your lives. But that critical thing, is that professionals do this for a living. That added pressure is a very important thing to remember. When your earnings depend on the result of your work, you’re going to pay more attention to detail. That gives the extra edge we need to create art. It’s not easy to make something that everyone can appreciate, even if they don’t know me personally.
Good discussion, I really enjoyed that. Please let me know in the comments where you land in this debate. None of this is to take credit away from anyone, photography is a great hobby, and it makes me happy when anyone takes an interest in it. The thing does make me unhappy is when people diminish the work of professional photographers, and believe that anyone could do what they do. The dedication, drive, and talent that makes them special should get a lot of respect, even within the flood of images we see every day.
So bring on the competition, it will only make me better. I will continue to work every day to make sure my images are the lotus flower rising from the swamp. That effort to differentiate myself will create the value that deserves to be rewarded. At least it should be worth a like and subscribe, maybe even a notification and a comment. But if you’d like to do more, go to my shop to see what I’ve been working on, or even see if anything interests you on my NTF platform.
Thanks as always for our attention, have a bright and focused week.
—> Watch this on Youtube by clicking HERE.
