The Types of Photographers

I was looking through flickr the other day when I started thinking about all of the reasons people take photographs. So, I thought about it and I began to categorize them based on two issues. Who they photograph for. The first group photographs for themselves. They have no client or person to please but themselves. Their subject matter can be anything from trees, cars, dogs on the street, or found objects. Most of you will recognize these types of people as the family historians in many ways. Your mom of dad might take on this role.

I call these types the “Firsts”. They will be there for your first crawls, your first steps, your first birthday, so on and so forth. These are you “mementos” photographers. They take photos to document a moment in order to reminisce later in life and quite possibly in order to leave a legacy of historical items for future generations. Other's take photos to bring to light Truths about society. Documentary photographers and in many cases, photojournalists can be in this category as well. The goal of these photographers (for the most part) is to widen the perception of others view of the world in a way that they may not have thought about before. These are the photographs that we often take for ourselves but also for the benefit of the rest of the world.

Then there are those that choose to take photographs for others. These are the types of people who most often take photographs for a living. These are your commercial photographers, the fashion photographers, and the family portrait photographers. The one exception here is that photojournalists can also be put into this category, for more often than not these photojournalists are paid for their photographs, yet still work towards changing the perception of others for a greater Truth. This is where things get complicated. In any sense, these photos are taken for someone else, and in most cases have a much deeper meaning to the 'client' rather than the artist themselves; however, that isn't to say that one can't gain a more rich work from taking photos for someone else.

For the individual who photographs for himself, it is so often a struggle to also find a way for their photographs to reach others. We as humans are so easily wrapped up in our own lives and experiences that in many ways we often find ourselves taking photographs that end up restricting their interpretation to only ourselves. To others the message becomes clouded and unclear. However for those who are able to photograph for himself (and I mean that in the sense of pleasing themselves, rather than a client), yet still have the ability for that message to reach others, their artwork can be very rich both in meaning and in visual representation.

Ultimately we all have our reasons for taking photographs. No one is to honestly say that one is better than the other, however as an artist I would say your ultimate goal is to create a rich and meaningful artwork.