Posted by Glyn Wade
Okay, my question this time, well my first one anyway….I’m sure there’ll be more….there usually is once I start rambling…..you know what I’m like….
ANYWAY….my first question….do you class yourself as a photographer?
Yes I know you have the camera which is probably somewhat better than the instant cameras that most people use. You may even carry round a dedicated camera bag, maybe even a tripod sometimes; but does this make you a photographer?
You take photographs, you attend a photography club, you have the equipment….but are you a photographer? You’d class Ansell Adams as a photographer, Malcolm from The Sentinel as a photographer but what about you? Where is that line drawn?
Is it the point where you make money from your photographs whether it be from selling them individually, being a wedding photographer, having a book published or setting up your own business? Or is it the point where photography becomes your main, or one of your main, hobbies and the equipment you own begins to build up?
I said there’d be questions and so far almost every sentence has ended with a question mark!
Now I wouldn’t class myself as a photographer-the closest I’ve ever come was having my picture in this year’s Sentinel calendar (see below) for which I won the princely sum of £50. Not quite enough to make me pack my job in and take photography up full time but it made me happy I can tell you! My picture there for many people to see on their walls for a whole month (unless, like me, they’ve left it on my picture January!), fantastic!
But a photographer? Naah! I love to take pictures although I’m far from an expert and I can’t see anyone ever rushing out to buy a book of my work.
What about you? Are YOU a photographer?
