Today I am not a photographer

by Gavin Seim:

It＊s been fun photography 每 I loved being a photographer and I want to keep making art. But I don＊t like being mocked so I＊m moving on with my head held high 每 You see words have meaning. But sometimes those words get changed.

By definition, being an artist requires exhibiting skill and meeting some degree of standards. By definition, a photographer is usually one who practices photography as a profession. Practices, meaning has knowledge and skill of. Is able to craft with. But ONLY by definition. The definitions may not have officially changed. But the practical use of the words has.

We live in a world that often abuses words. Eventually a world may become something different. Not by choice, but by fact. That＊s what＊s happened to photographers. Truth is it＊s barely recognized as a real career anymore by consumers. It is simply owning a piece of equipment or saying a word on the street.

Read carefully - This is not a depressing story. It＊s a story about moving forward 每 I have big plans for my images. But NOT for being a ※photographer§. It feels amazing.

Recently I saw a veteran photographer who has likely done more work and taught more professionals than any of us will ever see. He gave notice that he was stepping out 每§So glad to be exiting what used to be a profession§ 〞 He said. It was a bit sad, but today I bow out in perhaps a different way. I＊m not going to stop making images. I plan to take a better path. I＊m going to stop being a photographer. I＊m going to build a business not selling photographs, but furniture. This is not a new idea for me. I＊m just taking it a step further.

I was fifteen in the early 2000∩s 每 Y2k had passed with relative ease and digital cameras were starting to get noticed, but that was about it. I would walk into the local mini lab and run the machine myself. I would learn by trial and error what I had done wrong and I did not have help from the internet. This was before everyone who owned a camera fancied themselves an expert. People were still taking snapshots. They just knew the difference. It took nearly a decade before I really started knowing what I was doing. I dumped film, became a digital kid and then came back to work with film alongside it all.


When I said I was working to be a photographer it was granted a certain respect in itself. An expectation of study and skill was not considered optional at that time. Even using a 35mm camera to photograph a portrait showed you were really an amateur. But when you said the word photographer, half the people in the room did NOT raise their hands.

Then a time came when an entire industry downgraded to 35MM digital cameras that were actually worse than 35mm film. Only a few years before those same photographers would look down on anyone who used said 35mm film for serious work, because it was not good enough. You were expected to use medium format or larger for most work. The likes of which today＊s SLR＊s have still not rivaled for quality.

I know few anymore who are really making their living from photography. There are some, but it＊s those who understand business and have a good approach 每 So YES, you can make it. But It＊s almost embarrassing to speak the word. Saying you are a photographer garners no respect 每 It＊s akin to saying I have hair, I drive a car, or, I take showers.




This is a related a video I recently recorded on the idea of wall furnishings.

Perhaps the industry caved? Real professionals and organizations did not demand high enough standards or properly educate their customers. Camera makers went for the numbers and big sales, telling everyone they could be a pro and make lots of money. It was a business after all and perhaps we can＊t blame anyone. We all had mouths to feed and what had stemmed from 150 years of rich history changed in a blink. We barley had time to realize what was happening. New photographers were also part of it 每 AT some point they lusted so much for respect that they DEMANDED to be called photographers, even though they had no training or real experience ※who are you to say I＊m not a photographer§ is the phrase that still resonates today.

They got their wish 每 Everyone finally started calling everyone else a photographer simply because they had a camera in their hand. The problem was that while that sounded nice, it applied to everyone else with camera in their hand as well. EVERYONE became a photographer overnight, but almost no one actually studied the light, presentation or art that had been the a staple for hundreds of years. They simply demanded in a rather socialist narrative that they be part of the group.

As such the consumer no longer knows was a quality photograph is 每 They now pay people to make photos in which dad looks abusive, mom look fat, the kids like Oompa Loompas and the dog like a mange ridden monster. And they don＊t know the difference. But they are realizing that they don＊t need to pay for that.

A year ago this month I produced a film called EXposed. It did something no one was really doing 每 It looked at the craft and science of image making and that alone. It studied Zones and light and ratios and exposure. Simple things. It said that if you want to make serious images, you must get serious about your skill. As of today that film has gathered about $40,000 is sales around the world and it just won an international award from Professional Photographers of America.

It seems many people want to understand this craft. It seems how to make great images rather than how to fix them is so little spoken of today that people have literally forgotten. Perhaps in time that desire will make the word photographer having meaning once again. Will make a snapshot a family memory, but a photograph something special. Yet for now＃

I Am No Longer A Photographer!

I＊m not bitter. I am a businessman and I must adapt 每 This word once had meaning, but it has been twisted beyond recognition. Today I stop claiming that word. It will take time. But I am no longer a photographer by the modern definition and since that is the only one people recognize anymore, it means nothing and I will not describe myself as such. I＊m going for much more than being a photographer. Over the past years I have become an art furniture maker and I will sell myself as such. A recliner today is more valued than a family portrait. But I make furniture that become the centerpiece of a home.

I will continue in the business of being a Portraitist, a Pictorialist. Of sharing my ideas in hopes that I can show this difference. I will make and sell furniture for walls. Of course, there＊s much more to business that what you call yourself. But I believe in time the consumer will realize that hiring a ※photographer§ means nothing. They will realize that those without experience are duping them. After that they will take snapshots themselves and seek out people like me and a few others can offer something more.

Words have meaning. They should be respected. As I stop being a photographer I invite those who value craft, light and decor. Those who are willing to learn their trade before claiming to be an expert. I invite them to join me in being makers of fine furniture for people＊s walls. I invite those that have little experience to LEARN this trade of Wall Portraits and aspire to become a part of it. I invite consumers to come back to a time when life was simpler and the things you put on your wall were not pics, snaps or paper trash. They were treasured heirlooms.

As of today 每 I am no longer a photographer 每 I hope to see you on the other side.

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