If you wanted to raise hell on a photography forum just pop that question in there and see what happens. And the reason this question will make a forum explode is because it touches something very deep.

I mean, you can draw as much as you want and you would not call yourself a painter, right? Or you can build a table or a bed here and there, and you would still not be a carpenter. But somehow there seem to be a different approach on photography. A lot of people who hold a camera for more than a few weeks define themselves as photographers (or amateur photographers).

Some resort to income as the core definition of ‘professional photographer’ – if you make money from your photography, you are by definition a ‘professional photographer’. While I agree that profession needs to be supported by income, this definition does not define who is ‘A Photographer‘.

Ken Van Sickle has a very interesting take on this:

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