[Leica] Giving away pictures.

[chris at chriscrawfordphoto.com (Chris Crawford)]

I disagree with you Larry. A lot of professional photographers do make a
living. I have never known any poet to do so. Ever. I make my living selling
my work, some as stock, some as fine prints. I am not rich, but I survive
and it sure beats working for $8 an hour like 75% of the people here in
Indiana do. Recognition is worthless. Who cares. I don't give a damn if they
put my name on a photo that is used commercially, so long as I get paid. My
son and I depend on my income to eat and have a roof over our heads. I've
sold 5 prints in the last week. That takes care of Christmas, pays my
utility bills this month, and buys groceries for the next week too!

If one doesn't want to do stock or fine art work, which does take a lot of
work to make a living at, there is always wedding and portrait photography.
My hometown has probably 50 photographers, all self-employed, doing that
kind of work and making middle class incomes.

Chris



-- 
Chris Crawford
Fine Art Photography
Fort Wayne, Indiana
260-486-2581

http://www.chriscrawfordphoto.com  My portfolio

http://blog.chriscrawfordphoto.com  My latest work!

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On 12/4/10 1:43 PM, "Lawrence Zeitlin" <lrzeitlin at gmail.com> wrote:

> Tina writes:
> 
> "You are right, Peter.  I was there telling you not to give your photos 
> away
> 
> for nothing.  How do you know it had no commercial value?  I sell photos
> 
> every day that would be considered throwaway home happy snaps.  If you give
> 
> them away for nothing, you will never know if you could have sold them and
> 
> you diminish the value of all photography by giving your creative work
> 
> away..  Credit is worth demanding but only if it is accompanied by actual
> 
> money!!
> 
> 
> I'll get off my soapbox now, but I hope no one ever gives their photos away
> 
> for only a credit :-("
> 
> 
> Tina, I fully agree with your position but you are not describing the world
> as it is. It is harder to make a decent living as an independent
> professional photographer than it is as an actor or even a poet. 
> Considering
> the number of professional quality cameras out there, only the tiniest
> fraction deliver pictures that are ever published. Given the quality
> standards imposed by stock agencies, vanishingly few P&S pictures will ever
> make the grade regardless of merit unless of a particularly newsworthy
> event.
> 
> 
> 
> I serve as an art critic for several newspapers in the art rich northeast
> and visit dozens of art and photography shows annually. Far fewer than 10%
> of the artworks and photos exhibited sell. Those that do depict a narrow
> range of subjects, usually locally defined. Animals, children and nostalgia
> sell. Marine scenes sell along the Atlantic coast, western and frontier
> scenes in Texas, and faux Hudson River art in the Hudson Valley. But few
> portraits, or historical event pictures. Bright colors sell, muted grays
> don't. And forget about B&W unless your last name is Adams or Weston. To
> sell artworks, you must forget about your internal muse and conform to the
> desires of your audience. The virtue of a site like the LUG is that there
> are no jurors who filter the content. Many of the pictures are truly
> excellent but would be hard pressed to find a commercial outlet. But on the
> LUG they don't have to.
> 
> 
> So if a photographer is offered an opportunity to have his/her pictures
> published in a national forum, grab at the chance. Even if there is no
> payment. It may be the only way to get recognition in an overcrowded
> field. Isn't that why we produce the LUG yearbook?
> 
> 
> Perhaps it is harder to make a living as a poet than as a photographer. But
> not much.
> 
> 
> Larry Z
> 
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