In a town where everyone is either: a) a former Olympian/World Champion, b) a really important big deal someplace else before they moved here, and c) wealthy beyond your wildest dreams, add professional photographer to the list. If my calculations are correct, there are more professional photographers in Bend than there are medical professionals.
The problem is these professional photographers aren’t professionals. They’re dabblers. People who work regular jobs, with benefits, and moonlight as photographers hoping to make it in the glamorous (see the film Blowup) and sexy (see the film The Bridges of Madison County) world of photography.
Real professional photographers earn the majority of their income making photographs. They’re not pulling down $200k a year as a doctor, more than that as a stock trader, not nearly that much, but still a lot, working in a legal office, etc. No, they are professionals in their trade and that’s how they make their money.
Which leads me to the conversation of getting paid a fair wage for work performed. Bend is notorious as a horrible marketplace for professional photographers. Simply stated, local advertisers and publications simply will not pay what’s considered the going rate for photography. Hey, they can get photos for free or for nothing because there are so many pseudo pros out there who are willing to give their work away or just happy to see their byline under a photo.
Seeing their byline, the pseudo pros lay instant claim to being a professional. And in giving away or selling their work on the cheap, they undermine every true working pro. Those who rely on getting a fair price for his or her work in order to continue in the profession.
To be honest, Bend wasn’t always such a terrible market for photographers. That was back in the film days when those who used photography for illustration had to rely on people who could make good in-camera images.
Then along came digital and everyone who yearned to be the next Richard Avedon or Robert Frank, found out they could produce crappy images and turn them into wondrous ones via Photoshop.
Voila, the era of making images became one of enhancing images. “Hey, can you get me one of the Three Sisters in the background with Elizabeth Taylor and Mohammed Ali in the foreground standing in front of the Sunriver Lodge? No problem.
Meanwhile, the real pro tells the person requesting said trumped-up image to get lost. And, as the Kurt Vonnegut’s character Kilgore Trout often said: “so it goes.” Life marches on and many true local professional photographers are re-thinking their careers while those in the pseudo professional photographer class continue to undercut them in price and quality.
It’s a sad state of affairs to be sure and one that will never change since the precident for cheap, overly manipulated work has been established.
So, you might ask, who are Bend’s true professional photographers? We can start with Andy, Pete, Rob, etal at The Bulletin. They are true professionals. That’s their line of work.
Apart from them there’s a short list of locals who have devoted their lives to the study and practice of photography. These gifted photographers now mainly work with out-of-town art markets, publications and advertisers because they know how bad the local market is and will remain.
Last year, a local frame shop advertised a display of work by “Bend’s Best Photographers”. I have no idea what criteria the shop owners used in the selecting the “best” because only two on the list were true professionals. The rest were dabblers.
But more power to the dabblers. Please continue to enjoy your avocation but don’t go around calling yourself a professional until your tax statement is such that most, if not all, of your income comes from making images.
This article appears in Oct 15-21, 2009.
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Good article. One of the best photographers, a true professional in Bend is Paula Watts. Check out her website and work!
paulawattsphoto.com
This is an odd definition. I’m not sure how useful it is to arbitrarly exclude workers in a field from calling themselves professionals just because they maintain multiple income streams. As an extreme example, with this definition, someone who happens to be independently wealthy (from family money, lucky investments, or whatever) could probably never become a “professional” in any field no matter how hard they work at it or how skilled they become.
It seems to me that the term “professional” is one of those weasel words with multiple definitions which tend to get blurred together.
(1) A professional is anyone who earns a living from the activity (“living” is yet another weasel word but let’s ignore that for now).
(2) A professional is also anyone who is an expert in a field.
(3) A professional is also anyone who earns a living in a field requiring expert skills or knowledge. This third group is obviously just the overlap of the first two groups of professionals.
I’ve met plenty of “professionals” earning the majority of their income from their practice who weren’t terribly “expert” in the field.
Less common, but I’ve also met a few “professionals” with formidable expertise in their field who didn’t earn any significant income from their expertise.
So back to your point. I will assume your diatribe is actually against those amateurs and dabblers that fit none of these three definitions. In that case, I agree, if you are not a real expert OR do not earn a significant income from the activity (hmm… what is significant?), then please don’t call yourself a professional.
That said, who cares? The term is nearly useless anyway 🙂
Although I agree that Bend is filled with people who seem to have a lot to prove, I am not sure ragging on people that can’t make a complete living doing what they love does anything but make you look fairly petty. Who cares what other people call themselves? If your bottom line is getting effected because new technology is allowing fresh faces to compete with you, then you are going to be fighting a pretty rugged fight to the finish unless you just embrace technology. photography is by its nature dependent upon its technology. Processes of old have their place in academia and fine art, and they are nothing to dismiss. But digital processes are doing nothing but opening up new possibilities for photography and the photographer. They in fact are just leveling the creative playing field. Is this fair to people that devoted their lives to certain processes? no, but its no different than the guilds of portrait artists that got their lively hood bashed by the invention of the camera in the 1850’s. That time period probably created a lot of very bitter, old drunks that killed themselves on the bottle with no one ever knowing their names. I guess my point is this… if you’re a pro thats good for you. but the title pro is useless, with or with out it being accurate. In my humble opinion you would better off focusing on your craft…
“Simply stated, local advertisers and publications simply will not pay what’s considered the going rate for photography.”
It’s not just photography — local businesspersons balk at paying the going rate for ANY professional service. There’s a culture of cheapness in the local business community. Bend has grown into a big town (with a big-town cost of living) but employers still have a small-town mentality.
And if you complain about low pay you’ll be told how lucky you are to be living in “paradise.”
“its no different than the guilds of portrait artists that got their lively hood bashed by the invention of the camera in the 1850’s.”
But the best portrait painters were still very much in demand, because no camera can do what a skilled artist can do in rendering the character (as opposed to a mere likeness) of a subject.
I also don’t believe amateur point-and-shooters are going to drive creative professional photographer to extinction. But they do need to master the digital medium, as well as the technologies that can be used to manipulate and transform digital images. Purists say such manipulation is “cheating,” but in the hands of a creative person it can enhance the artistry of the image
“And in giving away or selling their work on the cheap, they undermine every true working pro.”
Maybe they figure they have to sell their stuff cheap until they get established. There was a time when Ansel Adams peddled his pictures on the streets of Carmel for $10.
Congrats on this thoughtful and interesting article, Bob.
I’ve worked with a few different photographers in town, and
found that hiring a true professional (someone who is actually
making a living at it full-time) and paying them a deserving fee
is well worth it. I’ve had too many negative experiences with
wanna-be pros that had professional-looking camera gear and
represented themselves as such, but ended up not being able
to deliver the quality and consistency I was looking for. The
“faux-pros” also lacked the kind of business skills that would
have made me want to hire them a second time.
One pro photographer in Bend I’ve used repeatedly and with whom
I’ve been very, very happy is Simone Paddock with Emerald Bay
Photography. She’s immensely talented, has great customer service,
and also a knack for figuring out exactly what my image needs were. You can see her work here: http://emeraldbayphoto.com/
So to all those out there considering hiring one of the faux-pros”
I say – don’t do it. It’s not worth it.
Using your criteria of pro, Kevin Kubota, a local boy who is rated as one of the best wedding photographers in the world, would be ranked as a dabbler now that he has diversified into providing Photoshop aids and book publishing services. That’s pretty good company for the dabblers.
i have a web presence, pay a business license fee to the city of Bend and the IRS gladly accepts my tax payments for my business but because I have other sources of income I am a dabbler. Gee, how are you classified if your spouse is the principal bread winner? For that matter, Woody, if you compare your writing and photography revenue streams you may find that you are also a dabbler.
I’m not sure what framing shop you are referring but there is currently a shop, Eastlake Framing, that, this year, will have featured 12 of Bend’s photographers. The promotion for these photographers says “some of the best” not “the best”. Furthermore the owner of Eastlake has every right to an opinion on who represents the best. What constitutes best in fine art photography is a very subjective call.
Unfortunately, photographers do not require certification, although I doubt that would stop the hacks. Anyone can hang out a shingle and call themselves professional and no doubt there are a great many buyers who are looking for discount (or free) work and could care less about real quality.
I am able to refuse that kind of work and not starve. There are many folks that may not be so lucky or could care less about pay. The issue will never be resolved and with increasing ease of digital camera operation will probably get worse. There will always be bottom feeder buyers. The trick is to separate yourself from that segment of the market, find your niche and build the kind of relationships that persevere.
Let’s face it. The successful photographers are the ones who realize the essence of professional photography is using the 95% of the time you are not behind the lens marketing the work you did with the other 5%.
Commercial photography whether done by working pros or others is suffering from several large market upheavals very similar to what is happening in the world of commercial music recording. Pirating of both music and photographic images has driven both the music and professional photo markets to the brink. Copyright infringements are taking place in both. The stock business in photos is flooded. With the advent of digital images even going so far as phone generated images many folks are making millions of still images….Many images does not mean good images. There will always be a need for great photography…and there is never a surplus of great photographers. I am producing somewhere around 15-20k wildlife/wilderness images a year and i am real happy to produce a dozen photos a year that i am truly satisfied with.
For sure, a similar expose could be made for others professing to be “professionals”: e.g., mortgage brokers, real estate, bankers, insurance, etc. just because they’re in a “field of interest”. Just because a kid with a video camera shoots some footage doesn’t make him/her a professional film director, editor, producer, et al.
Hi Bob, while I can empathize with your argument, I have to tell you that I “dabbled” in my serious hobby of making pottery for 20 years before I came upon a business model that provides me with a family wage job doing what I love. Before becoming a full time potter, I exhibited my work in galleries, street fairs and studio sales, and never once did a fellow potter admonish me for “dabbling” to use your term. Every single one of them were not only supportive of me as I struggled and learned my craft (even though I directly competed with them for sales in galleries and at craft fairs), and every single one of them were genuinely thrilled when I was able to make the leap from part time hobbiest to full time studio potter.
Maybe potters are different from photographers, but why would you want to discourage anyone from following their passion for photography? It is a rather expensive hobby-I know, because photography is a huge passion of mine.
Thanks for the article, I enjoy your writing. All the best,
Owen
http://www.mugrevolution.com
PS The photos on my site are done by the fabulously talented Joseph Eastburn of Bend.