So who can call themselves a Professional Photographer?
There is always a great deal of discussion regarding who can call themselves professional photographers. I have heard many people state it has to be someone who earns the majority of their income from photography and this appears to have become the accepted norm.
I think we should first look at the definition of a professional.
Definition of Professional
Characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession.
By exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally business like manner in the workplace.
By participating for gain or livelihood in an activity or field of endeavor often engaged in by amateurs.
Having a particular profession as a permanent career.
As we can see the term is not wholly restricted to earning the majority of your income from photography.
I have met a number of people who work full time as photographers but fail to meet the technical or ethical standards that most of us would expect in a professional photographer.
In fact it is only required that you participate in photography for financial gain, i.e some one is willing to pay for your services as a photographer, so does that mean that once someone has been paid for a job, no matter how badly it was completed, they can then call themselves professional?
How many of us have taken our vehicles to a professional mechanic only to have a botched or poor standard of repair or service carried out? I know I have, does the mechanic then get considered as an amateur mechanic? Perhaps not.
I think the point here is this, to be a professional photographer you should;
1. Be paid for your work.
2. Be consistent in your delivery of the service and product.
3. Be technically adept at the use of current camera equipment and accessories.
4. Be artistically adept, in composition, lighting and the use of color and shape.
If we had a professional body, which photographers had to be a member of and who could set standards that they could assess and confirm with anyone wishing to gain membership, then we would have the easy answer. Unfortunately there are many well intentioned professional bodies out there with their own individual view on what standard needs to be achieved and this disjointed approach does not make it any easier.
This I think is the whole issue in a nut shell. What do you think?
