Are wedding photographers the dentists of the visual arts?

YES YES and YES. If you do weddings, don't expect to get much respect. It's like Thomas Kinkade and painting. If you make money, many people hate you. In the fine art field, it's more important what you have to say rather than the quality. You can be a genius at your craft, but it still won't be regarded as art because it is commercial.

Now there are some who still enjoy your work who are in other fields. Those are far and few between. I went to school and painted photorealistic paintings. People hated me because I had skill. Since I didn't have much of a language to my art I gained no credit. I chose to go into photography because I enjoyed it. Photography in the fine arts was already not considered an art at my school. Let alone dare I say wedding photography.

However, who cares. As long as you make money and feel good about yourself, then who cares what they say. There are very few photographers that make money other ways.

Maybe all photographers are the dentists of the visual arts. To paint someone's portrait by putting oil on canvas, that takes skill, but to point a camera in someone's face and push a button? Such a reductionist attitude ignores all the technical knowledge and artistic experience required to get to the point where pushing the button actually results in a good picture.

But I think you asked more about how other photographers see wedding photographers. If I had known the economy would take the turn it has, maybe I would've become a wedding photographer, because somehow people are still getting married and paying for all the traditional trappings of a wedding. But on the other hand, my weekends are mostly my own, and I feel corporate P. R. photography allows me a lot more creativity than wedding photography would—that's someone's special day and they don't want you treating it like just another day at the office.

Lastly, in regards to being called a troll, it says a lot more about the people doing the calling than it does about you. I could answer 80 questions on this website today. But no one's putting a gun to my head to do it. So if I honestly think a question comes from a troll and the question doesn't interest me the least bit, I don't have to answer it. I can see if there's maybe another question I find a lot more interesting and the asker would actually appreciate a thoughtful response.

I can promise you, anyone who truly knows and understands what makes good photography has nothing but RESPECT for a GOOD wedding photographer. It is one of the most difficult of all photographic endeavors... maybe even THE most difficult. I did weddings for about 3 years, hated every minute of it, and now would not do it again for anything. I will flip burgers at McDonalds first. The most accurate thing I can relate wedding photography to is working on a flying trapeze without a net. You just have NO room for error and the stress and chances for screw ups are immense.

I do believe many wedding photographers are getting a bad reputation, simply because you now have a digital glut of amateur, clueless people with new entry level DSLR cameras going around calling themselves "professional" photographers. Many of them don't know an f stop from a door stop, take away business from the true pro wedding photographer, give their clients a CD full of poor snapshots for $500, then go out in search of some other equally clueless bride to be that thinks they are making the right decision by hiring one of these cheap wanna be "pro wedding photographers".

So yes, the wedding photographer as the entity is becoming today IS being looked down upon, and with good reason. But the REAL PRO wedding photographer who provides great photos and service to his clients is a very respected member of the photography community.

steve

I think I know what you mean and it might be true. Many wedding photographers do not have the time, talent or clients that allow them to get super creative. It's more formula and schedule than art. And that's OK, a competent wedding photographer should not be underrated.

Not sure why anyone would look down on a dentist though. They have to have the education and the certs too. Believe me, when you are in pain, a dentist will be the most respected person in your life.

It's not so much a matter of perceived competence as it is a matter of perceived artistic integrity. Instead of photographing unlikely models in weird poses with weird lighting, a wedding photographer shoots real people in a conservative ceremony for a much larger payout than the average art photographer can ever hope for.

And don't worry about Internet jerks calling you a troll. It happens sooner or later to everyone on some website or other when someone hates your guts but can't come up with a creative insult that will actually hurt.

People, myself included, called you a troll because the question you asked was asked in a way which indicated that you are in fact a troll.

Basically in the same way that this question is worded really.

There are many wedding photographers who are well respected in the world of photography. That is because they are good photographers.

The problem is though that there are many many rank amateurs who give "proper" wedding photographers a bad name by thinking that owning a half decent camera entitles them to call themselves a photographer and wedding photography is one of the most common business in the field.

I would suggest that if you don't want to be called a troll in future that you word your questions more carefully.

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