There's a very popular Craigslist ad that has been circling the web among wedding photographers. In the ad, a bride-to-be bashes wedding photographers, minimizes their craft, and questions wedding photography pricing. She demands an "amazing" photographer but obviously doesn't respect wedding photographers or their work. A wedding photographer wrote a rebuttal to the ad that appeared on the Petapixel blog, a popular blog for photographers of all levels. This photographer is a wedding photographer and explained the costs associated with being one and that photography is in fact a small business when operated as a wedding photography business. Her cost breakdown was good, though some photographers disagreed with some of the actual figures.
However, it's doubtful that the problem with the angry bride who wants amazing photography for cheap or devalues wedding photographers is because this bride doesn't comprehend that wedding photographers run businesses and have costs...or thinks they don't deserve to make a living. I share the real reason for this problem below. I posted this comment below on the article on Petapixel, which was subsequently deleted. (Luckily, I have my own blog where I cannot be silenced, and Disqus, the comment system used there saves any comment that any commenter posts on any blog. Awesome Disqus!)
You do realize that NO OTHER small business owners outside of the arts have to explain this on a regular basis...ever. I have not met one yet. Ever.
At the end of the day, it is NOT because your price is TOO HIGH or that the person does not understand (it does not take earning an MBA degree to understand that small businesses have costs....and if it does, the American education system is worse than I already imagined) costs, they simply do not VALUE the product enough to justify the cost in their mind. When people trample each other (even causing injury and death to others) to buy flat screen televisions on Black Friday but cannot afford to document a majorly important day in their life to remember forever and pass down as keepsakes to their children, you then have the TRUTH about value. (Also, there is the societal matter of valuing material property over intellectual property, material ownership over ability/talent…a whole ‘nother topic.)
Art is valuable because you DEEM it to be. It does not have to be justified because of cost of equipment or even time. If this person has no problem paying other vendors (which I can assure you that most brides that I have spoken to informally have no complaints about costs outside of photography/videography...as these represent delayed gratification not the instant gratification that the worship of the dress, decorations, venue and an open bar/fancy meal does. No guests can "immediately" witness the photography.) but have a tantrum about photography, it's not about YOU the photographer or the photographs. This is a problem within themselves.
(When a tornado or other disaster occurs, why do people cry? Their home is already gone. But when interviewed, if they couldn’t get to their photographs, they seem even more hurt.) What is funny is people put the dresses/tuxes away, the venues are cleaned up, the alcohol and food are digested, the guests move on about their lives and all that is left are the couples’ MEMORIES and PHOTOGRAPHS. If the latter is not deemed important to them nor the artists who create the latter worthy of any respect, it’s best to focus attention on clients who do value THEMSELVES enough to value PHOTOGRAPHY OF THEMSELVES enough.
To be clear, there are 2 types of clients that this would never apply to. Those who simply cannot afford a certain price range of a photographer, and happily look for ones within their price range. That's called budgeting and Americans have to do that daily with all types of goods, services and talents. The second type are the ones who consider photography to be one of the more expensive and important parts of their wedding budget and spend whatever they choose on it, also without a tantrum.
People will never fully agree on value and pricing. However, smart shopping, comparison and respect is what is needed to find a good vendor of any type...not a tantrum, entitlement and disrespect.
In regards to my comment being deleted, I do feel that any blogger can choose to moderate comments on their blog. I do. (The only comments that I delete are SPAM ones and...then another problem I have had is men posting inappropriate comments on my posts featuring my photographs of women.) Thus, Petapixel is not required to post my comment. (Blackstar, another photography blog, often did not post my comments, even on one post where I felt that a writer appropriated one of my blog posts to make the article. Eventually, I stopped reading that blog altogether. The blogosphere can get sticky.) However, since so many comments, including ones where full name calling are still posted there, I don't understand why mine was deleted.
Sometimes going beyond the superficiality of issues, especially how I connected this value perception issue to American cultural issues at large, is unwelcome in photography. (Susan Sontag alludes to this in her amazing book On Photography.) Believe me, people spend a great deal of time trying to silence me...daily. I am so thankful that I live in the age where everyone can have voice (though many systems fight to suppress some voices over others)...even if it is a tweet, Facebook status or a blog post.
I rarely created wedding photography to start with and I have not photographed one in over 2 years. My passion and focus is on portraiture, lifestyle and cultural documentary photography. I have the greatest respect for wedding photographers who work hard to create amazing work for their clients. And certainly not all brides are bridezillas and entitled people like the one who posted the ad. (Again, as I mentioned above, there two groups of brides that my comment wouldn't directly apply to.) Many are so amazing. My wedding photographer buddies are often floating on clouds after doing their great work. But again, when we engage in these pricing conversations, realize that there is much going on deeper than the surface. And those occurrences should never be silenced but in fact deconstructed and explored.
Related Blog Posts: Digital ≠ Cheaper, Don't Rely On "Chance", I Can't Afford Flickr Freebies, When Should Photography Be Free, Photographers Should Know Their Rates
However, it's doubtful that the problem with the angry bride who wants amazing photography for cheap or devalues wedding photographers is because this bride doesn't comprehend that wedding photographers run businesses and have costs...or thinks they don't deserve to make a living. I share the real reason for this problem below. I posted this comment below on the article on Petapixel, which was subsequently deleted. (Luckily, I have my own blog where I cannot be silenced, and Disqus, the comment system used there saves any comment that any commenter posts on any blog. Awesome Disqus!)
You do realize that NO OTHER small business owners outside of the arts have to explain this on a regular basis...ever. I have not met one yet. Ever.
At the end of the day, it is NOT because your price is TOO HIGH or that the person does not understand (it does not take earning an MBA degree to understand that small businesses have costs....and if it does, the American education system is worse than I already imagined) costs, they simply do not VALUE the product enough to justify the cost in their mind. When people trample each other (even causing injury and death to others) to buy flat screen televisions on Black Friday but cannot afford to document a majorly important day in their life to remember forever and pass down as keepsakes to their children, you then have the TRUTH about value. (Also, there is the societal matter of valuing material property over intellectual property, material ownership over ability/talent…a whole ‘nother topic.)
Art is valuable because you DEEM it to be. It does not have to be justified because of cost of equipment or even time. If this person has no problem paying other vendors (which I can assure you that most brides that I have spoken to informally have no complaints about costs outside of photography/videography...as these represent delayed gratification not the instant gratification that the worship of the dress, decorations, venue and an open bar/fancy meal does. No guests can "immediately" witness the photography.) but have a tantrum about photography, it's not about YOU the photographer or the photographs. This is a problem within themselves.
(When a tornado or other disaster occurs, why do people cry? Their home is already gone. But when interviewed, if they couldn’t get to their photographs, they seem even more hurt.) What is funny is people put the dresses/tuxes away, the venues are cleaned up, the alcohol and food are digested, the guests move on about their lives and all that is left are the couples’ MEMORIES and PHOTOGRAPHS. If the latter is not deemed important to them nor the artists who create the latter worthy of any respect, it’s best to focus attention on clients who do value THEMSELVES enough to value PHOTOGRAPHY OF THEMSELVES enough.
To be clear, there are 2 types of clients that this would never apply to. Those who simply cannot afford a certain price range of a photographer, and happily look for ones within their price range. That's called budgeting and Americans have to do that daily with all types of goods, services and talents. The second type are the ones who consider photography to be one of the more expensive and important parts of their wedding budget and spend whatever they choose on it, also without a tantrum.
People will never fully agree on value and pricing. However, smart shopping, comparison and respect is what is needed to find a good vendor of any type...not a tantrum, entitlement and disrespect.
In regards to my comment being deleted, I do feel that any blogger can choose to moderate comments on their blog. I do. (The only comments that I delete are SPAM ones and...then another problem I have had is men posting inappropriate comments on my posts featuring my photographs of women.) Thus, Petapixel is not required to post my comment. (Blackstar, another photography blog, often did not post my comments, even on one post where I felt that a writer appropriated one of my blog posts to make the article. Eventually, I stopped reading that blog altogether. The blogosphere can get sticky.) However, since so many comments, including ones where full name calling are still posted there, I don't understand why mine was deleted.
Sometimes going beyond the superficiality of issues, especially how I connected this value perception issue to American cultural issues at large, is unwelcome in photography. (Susan Sontag alludes to this in her amazing book On Photography.) Believe me, people spend a great deal of time trying to silence me...daily. I am so thankful that I live in the age where everyone can have voice (though many systems fight to suppress some voices over others)...even if it is a tweet, Facebook status or a blog post.
I rarely created wedding photography to start with and I have not photographed one in over 2 years. My passion and focus is on portraiture, lifestyle and cultural documentary photography. I have the greatest respect for wedding photographers who work hard to create amazing work for their clients. And certainly not all brides are bridezillas and entitled people like the one who posted the ad. (Again, as I mentioned above, there two groups of brides that my comment wouldn't directly apply to.) Many are so amazing. My wedding photographer buddies are often floating on clouds after doing their great work. But again, when we engage in these pricing conversations, realize that there is much going on deeper than the surface. And those occurrences should never be silenced but in fact deconstructed and explored.
Related Blog Posts: Digital ≠ Cheaper, Don't Rely On "Chance", I Can't Afford Flickr Freebies, When Should Photography Be Free, Photographers Should Know Their Rates
2 Comments:
This reinforces why I AM NOT nor will EVER BE a wedding photographer lol....
LOL Heather...understood. Wedding photography is not for everyone. But aqain, these pricing issues and perception of value is not particular to this one genre. It's everywhere.
The fabric of consumer perception is psychology and culture...so I think it is important to examine. Unfortunately, not every photographer wants to. If they don't, then they will find themselves arguing about why they should be paid simply because their camera costs a lot, not realizing that some people DO NOT CARE about that and that is not why they are arguing price.
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