Are you a phographer?

[ctitanic]

This is a very interesting topic recently analyzed at DIY Photography. When you are not making a living with your camera you hesitate to call yourself a photographer and this is what they call "The Impostor Syndrome".

I resonate with this video deeply because even after over 15 years in photography, I still don’t call myself “a photographer.” When someone else refers to me that way, I feel like a fraud. It could be because I don’t do it for a living (never did), but it can also be because of the impostor syndrome I’ve felt in each and every field I’ve worked in.

A photographer, in my view, is not simply someone who earns a living by taking pictures; rather, a photographer is anyone who uses a camera to create art. While professional photographers may earn a salary through their work, I believe photography transcends the idea of a mere occupation. It's about capturing moments, emotions, and perspectives through a lens, turning them into meaningful expressions of creativity. Whether someone is a professional or an amateur, the real essence of being a photographer lies in the ability to use a camera as a tool to craft visual stories, evoke emotions, and make art.

What do you think?

 

[StevenAunan]

After years as a "corporate communicator" and IT pro, I now call myself a photographer and author because those are the two things I spend most of my time doing. (The only time I felt like an impostor was when - once upon a long time ago - I pierced my ears and grew long hair.)

 

[ctitanic]

I guess when I retired I'll start calling myself a photographer. Right now I feel like I'm one of in the path to be one but I think that I suffer from some measure of the Impostor Syndrome. When people call me photographer I feel good though.

 

[Bryan Conner]

Before moving to Germany in 2010, I had my own photography business, so I was definitely a professional photographer. I make no claims at being a good one....but was one by definition. Now, as my job is teaching English, I am no longer a professional photographer, but simply a photographer. I also guess that since it is a hobby, I am a hobbyist photographer.

I am not much on labels like this as they are sometimes vague and or all inclusive. I am Bryan and I photograph things.

 

[mimigamez]

I consider myself a photographer, but when doing portraits I do second guess myself. I never know what people want & skin can get tricky. I recently did a group of staff & faculty, I was hired because they love my work, I’ve been doing their school senior athlete banners. When I went back to do make ups for the those that were absent, there were a few asking for retakes. I asked what they didn’t like about the first and it was mostly, their double chin, or something was wrong with their hair, just personal attributes. So I photoshopped a little extra to get rid of the double chin & fix fly always, and fluff up the hair for those that wanted that. And seeing these people for another event at the school and no comment about their images; even had one avoid eye contact when we were talking. Makes me feel like, did I really mess up their picture? Maybe I’m rushing but the director was supposed to contact me about the prints they wanted to order; but I’ve heard nothing, it’s been close to a month since I delivered the retakes.

 

[ctitanic]

I asked what they didn’t like about the first and it was mostly, their double chin, or something was wrong with their hair, just personal attributes. So I photoshopped a little extra to get rid of the double chin & fix fly always, and fluff up the hair for those that wanted that.

I should create another thread for "are you a plastic surgeon?"

That's why I love wildlife photography, nobody is asking for retaken or reediting and when photographing humans I love street photography! oh... and my grandsons, they never complain, at least now that they do not have a social media account!

 

[ctitanic]

no comment about their images; even had one avoid eye contact when we were talking. Makes me feel like, did I really mess up their picture? Maybe I’m rushing but the director was supposed to contact me about the prints they wanted to order; but I’ve heard nothing, it’s been close to a month since I delivered the retakes.

I know the feeling. Sometime ago a friend of my daughter asked me to takes pictures of their daughter's birthday. I did not charge them but I never got any comments about my work.

 

[chipman]

I'm not a photographer, I'm a hunter. I just use cameras now instead of rifle, shotgun, and bow.
When I don't find game to shoot then I'll take some landscapes.
For the third year in a row I won a spot in a local calendar contest with landscapes of the ND Badlands.
But the best labels for me now are old... tired..... grumpy...

 

[Photofarmer]

Weather nerd who likes to capture what i see.

 

[Bucolic Old Sir Henry]

It's been a fair few years since I did any paying gigs, but a long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away), I worked as a photographer and journalist so I feel free to regard myself as "a photographer", if not a "professional".

All I do these days is spend money to make images for art and pleasure instead of being given it to make images for someone else.

 

[Jake Shoots Birds]

There was a time I refused to call myself a photographer. Not because of feelings about myself and my work with a camera, but because my brother has dedicated his entire adult life to photography, winning a Pulitzer Prize with his Newark Star Ledger team, and multiple Photographer Of The Year awards from various news organizations. I struggled calling myself that because I cannot possibly compare what I do to what he does. And yet to not call myself that diminishes the photographs I've taken, published, and sold to people who have reached out to compliment and inquire about purchasing my work.

So am I a "photographer" or a "taker of photographs"?

I've played various musical instruments since the age of 8, and still do. Does that make me a "musician" or a "guitar/bass/piano/trumpet player"?

The honest answer to both questions is, "Both". There are times I am practicing the art, and there are times when I'm just doing something that looks like it. The fact that I don't do the first all the time does not diminish the fact that I can. None of it requires the ability to earn a living doing so. Or is Vivian Maier not a "photographer"?

Funny this came up this week as I found myself updating my LinkedIn profile on Tuesday after I was a part of a large "Reduction In Force" at the company I've spent the last 23 years with. I have no intention of going back to corporate life, so I needed to change the title that everyone seems to believe necessary when advertising themselves on that platform. Mine now reads:

 

[MikeZ]

I'm purely a hobbyist since I'm no artist nor do I dedicate enough time to perfect my skills. I'd like to be better at both (art and skills) and am trying, though not necessarily succeeding. However, I do find the posts and photos on this site to be an inspiration and hope that they will spur me on.

 

[NGauger101010]

I'm also getting a lot of inspiration here.

 

[Dean Wilson]

Yes and No
~as defined in 'Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language (Unabridged) 1965'

"One who photographs; especially one who engages in the business of taking photographs."

 

[David Berry]

And also according to Merriam-Webster:

• cook : a person who prepares food for eating

I’m no cook! (So he claims whilst eating a rather large slice of his own banana bread. Now what’s for dinner?)

Get to the point, David!

OK, I cook food more often than I take photos, but doing so is in no way part of ‘who I am’; taking photographs is.

 

[Dean Wilson]

And also according to Merriam-Webster:

• cook : a person who prepares food for eating

I’m no cook! (So he claims whilst eating a rather large slice of his own banana bread. Now what’s for dinner?)

So, accordingly, since you used a knife to slice the banana bread, that makes you a brain surgeon.

 

[Bucolic Old Sir Henry]

So, accordingly, since you used a knife to slice the banana bread, that makes you a brain surgeon.

You are what you eat, so that makes him a banana.

 

[Chris Summers]

I had my own commercial photography studio for 35 years before retiring. I shot mostly corporate stuff like annual reports, ads, catalogs, executive portraits and stuff like that. I only did the occasional wedding or family photos for family or close friends. I was what they call a "professional photographer." I always found the term strange. I graduated from a photography school in California, somewhere I still have the official Bachelor of Arts diploma I received when I graduated. After college I worked for some commercial studios, even a photo lab used by local pros. Eventually, I went out on my own. But I never understood why I had to add "professional" to my occupation title. Doctors, architects, lawyers, engineers don't do this and I had about the same length of education and early work and the college cost my parents a small fortune. Oh well, now I am just a photographer. And I get to take pictures of what I want now, and not what an art director asks me to.

 

[Dean Wilson]

Oh well, now I am just a photographer. And I get to take pictures of what I want now, and not what an art director asks me to.

From the book Heaven's River, by Dennis E. Taylor:

"Retired just means I don't have a job description, and I can work on what I want now."

 

[ctitanic]

I had my own commercial photography studio for 35 years before retiring. I shot mostly corporate stuff like annual reports, ads, catalogs, executive portraits and stuff like that. I only did the occasional wedding or family photos for family or close friends. I was what they call a "professional photographer." I always found the term strange. I graduated from a photography school in California, somewhere I still have the official Bachelor of Arts diploma I received when I graduated. After college I worked for some commercial studios, even a photo lab used by local pros. Eventually, I went out on my own. But I never understood why I had to add "professional" to my occupation title. Doctors, architects, lawyers, engineers don't do this and I had about the same length of education and early work and the college cost my parents a small fortune. Oh well, now I am just a photographer. And I get to take pictures of what I want now, and not what an art director asks me to.

I never have seen a Doctor saying he is an Amateur Doctor

 

[Dean Wilson]

I never have seen a Doctor saying he is an Amateur Doctor

Instead their place of work is called a Practice.

 

[ctitanic]

Instead their place of work is called a Practice.

And the patients are called guinea pigs?

 

[David Stallard]

My take on it - if you use a camera - no matter how skilled - you are a photographer, if you drive a truck your a trucker, if you garden your a gardener so no difference really ;-)

 

[ctitanic]

My take on it - if you use a camera - no matter how skilled - you are a photographer, if you drive a truck your a trucker, if you garden your a gardener so no difference really ;-)

Good point!

 

[RazzleH]

pho•tog•ra•pher​

(fəˈtɒg rə fər)

n.
a person who takes photographs, esp. one who practices photography professionally.

[1840–50]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Hmmmm! Now thinking that actually I am one.

 

[RedCobra]

What a silly discussion. Have camera will travel.

 

[TwoWheeler]

I don’t suffer from impostor syndrome, I enjoy it.

I see myself as someone who occasionally ruins an otherwise perfectly good hike by taking the camera out of the bag.