Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/09/04
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]le 04.09.2001 16:23, Paul Chefurka à Paul_Chefurka@pmc-sierra.com a écrit : >> From: Tarek Charara [mailto:tarek.charara@wanadoo.fr] >> >> le 04.09.2001 11:07, Mxsmanic à mxsmanic@hotmail.com a écrit : >> >>> Tarek writes: >>> >>>> You earn your living with photography and >>>> you can prove it. >>> >>> That does not answer my question. What constitutes earning >> one's living with >>> photography, and what proof does Leica require? >> >> Are you really stupid or are you just pretending? >> >> Tarek > > Actually, he's neither stupid nor pretending. It's a legit question - what > are Leica's criteria for "earning one's living with photography"? 51% of all > taxable income pre year? 90%? 100%? 49%? 10%? Some absolute dollar > amount? And how do they ask one to substantiate this? Is there a sliding > window of time over which the qualifications are applied? > > I don't mean to restart the tired discussion about "what's a pro?", but it > would be interesting to know how Leica qualifies those who take advantage of > whatever pro services they offer. The certainly don't want rabble like me > clogging their channels, so how do they keep me out if I were to shoot a dozen > very lucrative contracts in a year in addition to working as a contract > software designer? Say my income from photography exceeds the average income > for a nominal "professional photographer" but I make three times that from my > software business. Do they exclude me, while including another photographer > who makes less from their photography than I do, but has no additional source > of income? > > I think the answers to these questions would provide some very interesting > insight into how Leica views professional photographers. A comparison to > Canon and Nikon's qualification procedures would be even more enlightening. > Anyone have any information on this? > > Paul Actually what bothers me is that Anthony could have picked up the phone and asked Leica directly. So here is the answer directly from Leica: Is considered a professional anyone who makes a living out of photography, independant of income. Actually they don't ask for proof of income, but for proof of publication, exhibition, work, etc. You could also send your press card # or your AGESSA # (AGESSA is the "social security" for authors) Voilà. Concerning difference of service compared to N***n or the other brand. Leica France had a loan stock, but they abandoned it due to abuse (people considering it to be a "free-of-charge-rental"). T.