Is it still viable to have a career in photography? Certainly, the job description is changing and the way publications now source pictures is changing. But won’t we always need photos and videos? Yes, but the traditional job descriptions are a thing of the past.
Unfortunately, schools have not caught up with this change yet for the simple fact that we are in the midst of the change and the dust has not settled yet, so it is not clear which way to go. Besides, “those who can, do and those who can’t, teach.” I am not writing this in the negative sense this is sometimes used but simply to point out that those who are surviving — no, pioneering — this change are in the field “doing.” It will be a while until they retire from active field work, when they can’t do it anymore, and decide to teach and share their experience in a classroom setting. Meanwhile, photography teachers teach what they know and have done in the past — which unfortunately is not addressing the upheaval this industry is experiencing currently.
Two articles over at Black Star address this subject:
- Emily Chow writes: To Succeed in Photography, Today’s Students Must Chart Their Own Course
- Jim Pickerell answers: Sorry, Photography Students, But It’s Time to Find Something Else to Do