There are arguably a lot of challenges to breaking into the photography field and “making” it. Photography is an increasingly popular career choice for those who are creative, are stay at home mothers, are dreaming of being their own boss, or simply just love photography. Yet, most photographers will fail in the first two years, the rest will crash out around year five, very few make it past that and those that do are the privileged and lucky few.
I have stated before that photography doesn’t require as much talent as it does keen business sense and a willingness to learn. Photography is something you can learn even with no natural talent as it is a technological driven art form, so if you have a strong business sense and a strong network you have the best chance at making it in the field.
I recently watched a video (watch video here) that compares the cost of living in major cities in the 60s to now and how that is a drastic cause for why photography is so hard to break into— expanses and ability to earn enough to survive. That video wasn’t wrong, it went on to say that the photographers that really make it, make it because of privilege, families helping them, their networks getting them jobs, and I also do not disagree with that.
I often times refer to myself as lucky to have been doing photography for so long. I have been running this business, traveling, changing specialties for 14 years, I am crazy lucky because there is absolutely no way I could have chased this dream without the backing and support of my family. It might not have been resounding “we believe” in you support but it was “we have a place for you to live and warm food to eat” while trying to succeed.
That support gave me the time, the comfort to build a network, to weather the storms that inevitable came in the climate that is our world. I beat the first two years, I beat five years, then a decade, and today I am back on track after set backs from a global pandemic.
So yes, absolutely privilege is a big part of the reason photography is so difficult to break into. Most do not have the privilege to not earn a living wage from their passion and still get to chase it, they have to give up for survival. Most do not have the ability to spent money of decent gear starting out, or basic classes to help them learn to get started. They do not have a basic subset of clients willing to pay and have to offer free sessions to grow a portfolio and that leads to most considering them to be inexpensive making it harder to raise their rates to help with the insane costs of just basics in this world.
I hate saying that it is so hard to break into this field all boils down to money but that is the reality. Financially, you have to have support behind you to build and grow a creative business otherwise the odds are you will be a hobbyist and will not make a living from your creative passion.