I’ve been practically taking photographs since I was a kid. I started out with a couple of point-and-shoot film cameras, moved onto digital compacts and mobile phone cameras, and now it’s been almost a year since I’m on a digital SLR along with a few months on a film one.
I just noticed a lot of fuss among people on the Internet as to whom the title of photographer may be used. While I have been agreeing to some Word Art/Typography Art posts here in Tumblr that basically says, “Having an expensive camera doesn’t make you a photographer.” (or something like that, possibly in Tagalog) I thought: Why take the pleasure of having a title away from them if they could afford it?
I suggest let them say who they think they are. We could always add modifiers to the title: starter, amateur, casual hobbyist, serious enthusiast, or professional, among other terms. We could also be creative about it and say one is for example a self-portrait fashion photographer …who specializes in noisy and blurry shots on a mobile phone camera. One takes a camera, the same one poses the model or composes the scene, and the same shoots a photograph = that’s technically a photographer.
But, that’s not saying everyone’s an artist. Now, that’s a different story…
