Articles

A World Without Photographers

Can you picture a world without photographers? Not gonna happen, I hear you say. Quite the contrary, everyone will be taking too many pictures on their smart phones, tablets and digital cameras. But as a careful reading of photo forums indicate, we are seeing a new generation of photographers, with less experience. It’s not necessarily bad, though all the “Insta” photos heavily filtered posted on social sites do not bode well for this art form. It’s also getting harder to make a living taking and selling pictures.

Then we read this article in HBR which has these revealing stats: a study by the Pew Research Center indicates that the oldest Baby Boomers turned 65 on January 1, 2011. For the next 19 years thereafter, 10,000 people per day will turn 65 years old. Imagine: 10,000 people presumably retiring every day for the next 19 years!

Are you an experienced photographer thinking of retirement? It may be a good time to share your knowledge to a new generation of young photographers. Write an ebook or a blog, make a video, participate on forum boards, give lectures, volunteer. Share your photography skills. We don’t want a world of “Insta” photographers, now, do we?

Read the article at: HBR.