[Leica] Professional photographers?

Thu Sep 20 00:57:57 PDT 2018

Many of the people I've met who were serious amateurs were more photographers then some pro's who really just were schlock artists who view their cameras as cash registers. The money they were making did not make them more a photographer they were an insult to the craft and themselves and their clients. 
Serious "amateurs" have a long respected history in photography like in no other craft. HCB revered to himself as a "dilettante", Stiglitz used the term " amateur as a compliment and was often negative about selling ones prints (as it turned one into a "prostitute".
Serious amateurs I've known come home from the bank they've worked in all day and pull out their 4x5 camera and tripod and spot meter and head out and shoot sheet film past dusk which they print in their darkrooms in Amidol making their fingernails turn black. I'm ok with calling them "photographers" whatever the IRS thinks and few if any would argue.

-- 

Mark William Rabiner
Photographer

On 9/19/18, 1:19 PM, "LUG on behalf of Tina Manley via LUG" <lug-bounces+mark=rabinergroup.com at leica-users.org on behalf of lug at leica-users.org> wrote:

    I still manage to make a living as a professional photographer.  I do it
    with a combination of stock sales and assignments.  It gets harder every
    year because everybody is a photographer these days!  I do go to a lot of
    places that most travelers do not and since they are places that are in the
    news today (Syria, Iran, Central America) the photos sell.  I also have
    access through the agencies I work with as a mission consultant that most
    people do not have.

    My husband is my business manager and he makes sure that I make a profit
    three out of five years.  He tells me when I can and cannot afford to add
    more equipment.

    I still find Leica equipment to be worth the expense due to the quality and
    durability.  I very much regret the one-year detour I made with Canon.  The
    new SL is the best camera I have ever used and the lenses are outstanding.
    I'm still able to carry them around all day, thank goodness!

    I am probably even more in the minority since I am a female professional
    photographer and Leica user!!

    Tina

    On Wed, Sep 19, 2018 at 12:59 PM, Lawrence Zeitlin via LUG <
    lug at leica-users.org> wrote:

    > When I mentioned the almost impossibility of selling figurative photos at
    > art and photo shows several LUG members suggested that I repost this note.
    > It was written half a decade ago and is still relevant today.
    >
    > "A couple of truths. Photography is not legally a profession in most parts
    > of the USA. Anyone can call themselves a "professional photographer." There
    > are no exams, no licenses, no boards of regulation, no educational
    > requirements. Your doctor, dentist, architect, lawyer, accountant,
    > podiatrist, and even your kid's kindergarten teacher are professionals.
    > Photography is either a hobby or a business. In some communities you must
    > have a business license to operate. But having a business license does not
    > mean that you are legally a professional. According to the IRS, if you
    > don't make money three years out of five, it is a hobby. The Bureau of
    > Labor Statistics data shows that there are 152,000 people in the U.S. who
    > classify themselves as photographers but only about 10% of those make a
    > living which puts them solidly in the middle class. If the practice of
    > photography is their only income, the rest qualify for food stamps. Many
    > LUG members who profess to making a nice living from photogr
    >  aphy are not free lancers but are or were gainfully employed by some
    > organization who paid them to take pictures.
    >
    > Second, photographic equipment has evolved to the point where little
    > technical knowledge is required to make adequate photographs. Anyone can
    > pick up a camera, point it at a subject and get a perfectly exposed, in
    > focus, image. It is all in knowing where to point the camera and that
    > facility is shared by many who do not classify themselves as photographers.
    > There is no long apprenticeship learning the fundamentals. The entry bar is
    > very low. This extends to commercial photography as well as pictures of
    > Aunt Julia. A national distributor of mechanical fasteners in my
    > neighborhood photographs all the pictures in his voluminous catalog
    > himself. "Why," he says, "pay thousands to a professional photographer. How
    > much skill does it take to make a picture of a bolt?"
    >
    > Third, professional quality equipment is cheap and readily available.
    > Canon expects to sell 26 million cameras this year. Two million will be of
    > professional level. Nikon, Sony, and even Leica will add to the sum,
    > perhaps 5 million pro cameras in total. Clearly there is no shortage of
    > equipment which can meet the highest standards for publication. And the
    > stuff is easier than ever to use.
    >
    > The LUG has over 1000 members all of whom have a high interest in
    > photography and probably possess professional level equipment. How many of
    > us make a living from photography alone? Just photography. No other day
    > jobs, investment, trust fund, Social Security, retirement benefits or
    > spousal income included. I mean a real living. The average middle class
    > income in the US is $40,000. The poverty level is under $20,000. Remember
    > you can make that much by frying hamburgers at Burger King. If you don't
    > make an adequate living income from photography, no matter how skilled you
    > are, you are practicing a hobby. Unless more than 100 LUG members are
    > gainfully employed in photography, I maintain that the "professionals"
    > amongst us are a distinct minority, unrepresentative of the interests of
    > the entire group. If we listen to them we might as well expect all real
    > photographers to only use Leicas.
    >
    > Larry Z
    >
    >
    > A couple of truths. Photography is not legally a profession in most parts
    > of the USA. Anyone can call themselves a "professional photographer." There
    > are no exams, no licenses, no boards of regulation, no educational
    > requirements. Your doctor, dentist, architect, lawyer, accountant,
    > podiatrist, and even your kid's kindergarten teacher are professionals.
    > Photography is either a hobby or a business. In some communities you must
    > have a business license to operate. But having a business license does not
    > mean that you are legally a professional. According to the IRS, if you
    > don't make money three years out of five, it is a hobby. The Bureau of
    > Labor Statistics data shows that there are 152,000 people in the U.S. who
    > classify themselves as photographers but only about 10% of those make a
    > living which puts them solidly in the middle class. If the practice of
    > photography is their only income, the rest qualify for food stamps. Many
    > LUG members who profess to making a nice living from photogra
    >  phy are not free lancers but are or were gainfully employed by some
    > organization who paid them to take pictures.
    >
    > Second, photographic equipment has evolved to the point where little
    > technical knowledge is required to make adequate photographs. Anyone can
    > pick up a camera, point it at a subject and get a perfectly exposed, in
    > focus, image. It is all in knowing where to point the camera and that
    > facility is shared by many who do not classify themselves as photographers.
    > There is no long apprenticeship learning the fundamentals. The entry bar is
    > very low. This extends to commercial photography as well as pictures of
    > Aunt Julia. A national distributor of mechanical fasteners in my
    > neighborhood photographs all the pictures in his voluminous catalog
    > himself. "Why," he says, "pay thousands to a professional photographer. How
    > much skill does it take to make a picture of a bolt?"
    >
    > Third, professional quality equipment is cheap and readily available.
    > Canon expects to sell 26 million cameras this year. Two million will be of
    > professional level. Nikon, Sony, and even Leica will add to the sum,
    > perhaps 5 million pro cameras in total. Clearly there is no shortage of
    > equipment which can meet the highest standards for publication. And the
    > stuff is easier than ever to use.
    >
    > The LUG has over 1000 members all of whom have a high interest in
    > photography and probably possess professional level equipment. How many of
    > us make a living from photography alone? Just photography. No other day
    > jobs, investment, trust fund, Social Security, retirement benefits or
    > spousal income included. I mean a real living. The average middle class
    > income in the US is $40,000. The poverty level is under $20,000. Remember
    > you can make that much by frying hamburgers at Burger King. If you don't
    > make an adequate living income from photography, no matter how skilled you
    > are, you are practicing a hobby. Unless more than 100 LUG members are
    > gainfully employed in photography, I maintain that the "professionals"
    > amongst us are a distinct minority, unrepresentative of the interests of
    > the entire group. If we listen to them we might as well expect all real
    > photographers to only use Leicas."
    >
    > Larry Z
    >
    >
    > _______________________________________________
    > Leica Users Group.
    > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
    >

    -- 
    Tina Manley
    www.tinamanley.com
    tina-manley.artistwebsites.com
    http://www.pbase.com/tinamanley
    <http://www.alamy.com/stock-photography/3B49552F-90A0-4D0A-A11D-2175C937AA91/Tina+Manley.html>

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