I completed a degree in photography nearly thirty years ago, but decided I wasn't ever likely to break through the competition, so did other things with my working life. However, I've always kept in touch with my fellow students. On balance they present a sobering picture of the professional photographer's life.
Most occupied the middle or lower rungs of the profession, from wedding photography to selling or management in photo retailers. The wedding photographers have become pretty jaded after three decades at the job. They make a living, but they all recognise that competition means they can never raise their fees too much above the market rate. And photographic retailing has had a torrid time since the advent of the internet.
A few had an early rush of fame and fortune, but that often faded away when the art directors that essentially brokered their rise moved on themselves to other things.
The last thirty years has seen the demise of staff or in-house photographers, so sadly most of the ones who were in stable employment have been made redundant on at least two or three occasions. The library/stock income that kept many afloat has steadily dwindled as fees declined and their library portfolios became outdated.
One guy had a very successful business as a food photographer, with a well located specialist studio. I thought he was the best placed to maintain momentum over the long haul. But about eight years ago, after more than twenty years of sustained results, his turnover spiralled down to almost nothing in a frighteningly brief period. He feels he kept his work fresh and contemporary, but that he had built his business on a small group of clients, and they were either promoted beyond the level where they were actively commisioning photographic work, or they just moved on to other industries.
I'm about to retire from my non-photographic career, and over the last couple of years I've been building up an architectural photography practise. Personally I feel that the business skills I've acquired outside photography have made the process, if not easy, then at least steady and profitable. I remember the carnage from the 1989-95 property crash here in the UK, and with strong signals that another's on the way I'm certainly not counting my chickens, especially as most of my clients are property developers or manufacturers of building materials.
But I'm convinced that as long as you keep working at developing your customer base the photographic future needn't be as bleak as many of my contemporaries have found it.
I guess photography is simply a particularly dynamic business, and the moment you stop reinventing yourself, taking risks, and nurturing the future commercial prospects of your business; then it doesn't take long to get overtaken by the next generation.
