It seems like you’re trying to argue with a bunch of people who aren’t here, and to have the rest of us argue on their behalf. I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.

I’m not saying that artists are entitled. I am saying that artists who expect to be paid whatever they want to be paid, and complain when the market isn’t in their favour (just as happens in all jobs) are entitled.

If a professional wants to compare their photos to that of an amateur, and explain why it’s worth the money *to the customer*, they may well get their business – but if the customer doesn’t see enough of a difference, the artist has to deal with the fact that others don’t value their work as highly as they do.

I don’t see anything wrong with turning someone down who requests work for ‘exposure’, and I see nothing wrong with telling the requester that their exposure is nowhere near what you can otherwise get for your work. But if someone else values their work lower, and they make a mutually agreeable decision of work for exposure, it’s not for anyone else to say they shouldn’t be giving it away at their own price.

I take offense to the idea that artists are conspiring to keep prices high. The costs that go into running a professional photography business are real and significant. And the time spent working on images behind the scenes far exceeds the time spent on a shoot. Just as an example, at a full day wedding I usually spent 9+ hours with the bride and groom. Then I can easily spend 35 or more hours sorting, finishing, printing, and packaging their images. Then I have to cover the cost of my professional gear, insurance, travel, printing, etc. It’s a very difficult job, actually and I have complete respect for people who do it full time.

So when a unskilled photographer offers to do that same shoot for a couple hundred dollars but then provides crappy images, yeah, it frustrates me. Personally, I don’t worry about losing the job because my personal calendar is completely full — I do, however, hate to see the sweat, tears, and hard work I’ve poured into honing my craft diluted.

But, as I said earlier, artists are free to set their own prices.

My issue comes from bloggers, businesses, and other entities soliciting free art in exchange for “exposure” or the “honour of being chosen.” Exposure doesn’t mean much, to be honest, and Trent has been consistently over-valuing the exposure that his blog would generate. It’s an easy mistake and lots of people make it. But in terms of actual value to an artist? Exposure doesn’t have as much value as he thinks it does.

That attitude is not fair and it does contribute to a devaluation of the entire industry. So go ahead and think of photographers as “entitled” all you want . . . but that doesn’t change the real challenges that artists face every day.

All those things together mean that I would have been disappointed if Trent hadn’t been willing to pay Brittany at least something, regardless of what reward Brittany would have been willing to accept.

Is there a difference between someone who noodles around and someone who devotes a bug chunk of their life to it? The only real difference is in the product produced, and that’s up to the listener. In music, it seems there is considered to be a big gap between an amateur and a professional, though I suspect the average listener might notice little difference.
In photography, there *used* to be a big gap, because darkroom techniques took a ton of work, and the difference between amateur and professional equipment was huge.
Since the popularisation of digital photography, that gap has closed a lot, so that while there may still be a difference between a photo taken by an amateur and one taken by a professional, the difference might be small enough to not warrant a bit price difference. And the amateur with great photos may now undercut the market, if people consider their photos ‘good enough’ to purchase, leaving professionals who want hundreds for a shot in trouble. This seems to rankle a lot of professional photographers I’ve heard from lately, and instead of trying to demonstrate why their work is worth the money they ask, they complain that others are betraying the cartel. Whether calmly or angrily, it’s an absurd position that reeks of entitlement.

As for Brittany, she may desire to be a professional, but that doesn’t mean her photos are currently good enough to warrant being paid, or being paid much.
And if she thinks exposure is enough reward *for her*, it’s really not anyone else’s business.

A valid point is a valid point, whether its tone is “educating,” “offended,” or somewhere in between.

Anyway, I’m not even a visual artist, so I don’t know why you think I’m “complaining that the market is no longer in [my] favor.”

But I am a musician, and I’ve performed for free many times. Like you, I do it for fun – the rush of being on stage, the satisfaction of a job well done, and the praise from an occasional audience member are all the compensation I am looking for.

There’s a difference between making art and giving it away purely for fun, and making art and giving it away in the hope that it will lead to a paying gig. There’s also a difference between me – an amateur with no great innate talent, who noodles around on a guitar for a few hours a week with no particular goals in mind – and someone who devotes a big chunk of their life to honing their creative and technical skills.

Those differences are why I don’t mind not getting paid, but I’m glad that Brittany is (if in fact “compensated” means paid).

This phrasing comes across much more educating than offended, as the previous such statement did.

I am a hobbyist photographer, and while I make no effort to sell my work, I have allowed people to use my photos for free in non-profit works. I take them because I enjoy doing so, and I don’t mind giving away as long as someone else isn’t making money off it.
Someone else complaining that by not charging I’m failing to keep their prices up apparently has an issue with capitalism, and I don’t care for artists who expect to make a living off it just because they want to.
I was in Hawaii last year, and ran across some gorgeous photos of the islands. We considered buying a print to hang, but then looked at the prices. Their photos were definitely better than mine, but they weren’t hundreds of dollars better. Others might be willing to pay the cost. If no-one is willing to pay the asking price, they’ll have to lower them. That’s a free market.

It’s tough enough to be a professional artist and it’s an issue when some artists (especially beginners or people who do that as a second job/hobby) do their work for peanuts (or even for free), because it drives market prices down — and they are already low for commercial art — and devaluates the whole thing. Many people have this attitude that artists should be oh so grateful for the chance of displaying their work, why should they pay them on top of exposure?

That post of Trent from a few years ago rubbed me the wrong way but what was more infuriating was his refusal to understand where people were coming from.

How horrible is it to add “By the way, people in my line of work are presented with ‘great opportunities’ like this all the time, but they’re not really that great from my perspective. ‘Exposure’ isn’t nearly as valuable to an artist as you and a lot of other people think it is”? You could, potentially, educate some people about an issue they might not have known about before.

“People freaking out about others choosing to give away what they do”

To whom are you referring?

You can ask for anything. And when asked, you can always say no. So what’s the problem?

So what if someone hits you up with an unacceptable offer? You can reply “No thanks, I don’t need to give stuff away for ‘exposure’ – my price is $x”. How horrible is it to do that?

People freaking out about others choosing to give away what they do, or trade it for a lower price are just complaining that the market is no longer in their favour.

Are you the one who linked to your Flickr here recently? I really enjoyed looking through them. You are very talented and thank you for sharing.