[Leica] Art vs. photography - who cares?

[lrzeitlin at aol.com]

 Art vs. Photography. Photographers should not obsess over whether they are artists or craftsmen. With few exceptions people do it for love, not for income. If a photographer wants to inflate his/her ego by claiming to be an artist so be it. Your garbageman probably makes more money practicing his profession.


There are more than twice as many professional photographers in the country as there are professional artists but economically speaking it is much better to be an artist than a photographer. Still, both groups would qualify for food stamps. The AVERAGE income for professional photographers is a shade over $13 per hour. That's less than the recently raised salary for workers at McDonalds. Even wannabe actors do better. An economist would tell a professional photographer to scrap his cameras and serve burgers instead.


Here are the relevant passages on the described occupations fro the Occupational Outlook Handbook from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:


http://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/photographers.htm
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/arts-and-design/craft-and-fine-artists.htm
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/entertainment-and-sports/actors.htm


Now we can get back to really important things like posting pictures of cats, babies, flowers, street scenes, and discussing the merits and demerits of Leica lenses.


Larry Z