The decline of professional photography

The NY Times takes a small shot at what’s been going on with the evolution of digital photography technology and its impact on the industry. Sites like Flickr have been a massive source for Getty since they opened up their users’ images for licensing; photographers, assistants, and digital technicians alike are finding it more difficult to maintain the same day rates; costs are still soaring (and the pay rates still haven’t increased for shit in decades — unless you count the paltry online royalties that get tacked on to the day rate nowadays); and there’s a bunch of artists out there (me) hungry for some work but don’t have (m)any opportunities.

That is because amateurs are largely happy to be paid anything for their photos. “People that don’t have to make a living from photography and do it as a hobby don’t feel the need to charge a reasonable rate,” Mr. Eich said.

When you have such affordable digital technology, why would anyone pay a working photographer their day rate when you can just bust out your 15-megapixel dSLR camera and do it yourself? I’ve been trying to figure that out since I finished school and it remains to be seen if any of my attempts at an alternative business model will prove any success.