It’s all about passion
Talking about stock photography
The stock photography industry is love and hate looking at photography as an art.
After eight years in this industry I have heard reviews of all colors. Comments like “ these photos are easy to take” or “the images of stock have destroyed the art of photography” to even “Lucky you for doing the job of your dreams.” The truth lies somewhere in between.
Images of stock have a purpose: communicate a message. Every day we are bombarded with images of stock in brochures, TV commercials, newspaper articles, etc.
The smiley and beautiful family used by insurance companies or financial institutions. The young couple with a backpack on his shoulders , perfect hair and makeup used by travel agencies. Images of stock from this point of view could look very tedious and boring.
There are some professional stockers who produce stock photos in different ways. Those that not consider the downloads the most important part of their work. They do photography for passion, they desire to photograph, they love to investigate and experiment. I’m probably one of those. One of those who did not want to do images of stock as a business, as a factory, but nevertheless has made a profession of it. I sell my photos, but I decided to follow my passion above all. At least I try to do this as a passion without thinking on downloads too much. My best photographs are those that have given me something special and probably are not the ones that sold more. The ones that have given me more satisfaction. This personal satisfaction need not necessarily be measured in economic terms or in terms of sales. Must be related to a moment, a place or the person being photographed. Maybe that image will never be bought by any customer. The stock photography is a way to exercise your passion for photography, to progress and improve without being influenced by sales.
I could be a “better” stock photographer, but I chose to focus my career doing what I love. This industry is constantly growing and changing. The agencies continually change their plans and marketing strategies, making almost impossible any long-term plan . Customers come and go, as in all areas. Something that is really cool today, maybe in two years will look terribly old. We are constantly in danger. We are photographers, probably sitting on the wrong side of the monitor. We will never know if one of our photos has been sold in Bangkok , New York or Berlin, but in the end it makes no difference.
The essence of this article is: do it with passion. Do not move for downloads. Find something you like to photograph and get on with it. Become the number one in your niche. The market is unforgiving: boredom or dissatisfaction are really dangerous enemies. If you do things with passion, you will invest time in something you love. You will improve your skills. You will be satisfied. And probably you will end up selling tons of images through stock agencies.
During these years have been born hundreds of new agencies and new photographers boarded the boat, all in the same pot, all trying to sell the photos before you. Look at it this way: the stock market for photography is a great jungle where have fun. Good luck!
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This article have been translated also in Spanish and published on MyMicrostock.net. I published the original article in Italian few months ago in my personal blog.
