Becoming Less of a Photographer?

A few days ago, Rob Haggart (A Photo Editor) published an illuminating interview he titled, Interview with a *Big Shot* Art Buyer.

Haggart's title pretty much says it all: He, Haggart, asks questions and she, the "*Big Shot* Art Buyer," answers them. BTW, the occupation of "Art Buyer" might be a bit misleading to some of you. To clarify, Haggart didn't interview someone who buys paintings and sculptures for the Louvre or the Getty museums. He spoke with someone from the world of advertising, i.e., an advertising art buyer who, simply put, buys or contracts for art to be used in advertising, in this case, photographers and their art.

One of the questions Haggart asks in the interview really set me to thinking. Leastwise, the *Big Shot* art buyer's answer got me thinking. Haggart asks, "How important is photo-compositing in advertising photography and do you hire photographers who shoot everything “in camera” to work on campaigns that will need load of retouching?"

The *Big Shot* art buyer responds, "You should ask a photographer this question... they are the ones that are becoming less of a photographer and more of a computer tech person."

Ouch!

But you know what? She's right. She's absolutely right.

Like the *Big Shot* art buyer, I also think that photographers of all skill levels (and all levels of success) are becoming, or have become, less a photographer and more of a computer tech person.

Some of you might ask, "Yeah. So what? Is that a bad thing?"

Honestly, I don't know.

From a photography purist's point-of-view -- and I'm not saying I'm a purist -- it probably is a bad thing. But for those who look at this as an evolutionary change, it's simply the way things are-- In fact, these days, it's a requirement that photographers become computer savvy whether they are professionals or serious hobbyists.

So what is the *Big Shot* art buyer's bias concerning this issue? Is she a purist with a bad attitude towards it or simply an observer commenting on change? Again, I don't know. But I do detect a 'tude that doesn't seem like it includes a whole lot of admiration for this photography trend. But, I could be wrong.

Anyway, I'm heading out to Vegas in the morning. I'll let you know how the WPPI show was.

The gratuitous eye candy at the top is Carly from this past week.