Are photographers happy?

[JBrunner]

First of all, I say "happy" is something you choose to be.

I think a "happy" chart measuring satisfactions of various professions is more of a barometer of the kinds of personalities that choose certain careers, rather than how "good" a particular job is.

I love cameras and making images. I don't like the job so much, but then again, I've been doing it a long time, and the kind of challenges, and learning that used to be a daily thing aren't so everyday anymore. Most of the jobs now set the limit, through budget or other outside considerations (market, client, etc.), rather than me. The video's and such are the most fun I've had in a long time. My personal work is more challenging and rewarding than ever.

Am I happy?

As happy as I choose. That is up to me.

 

[Early Riser]

I also think that photographers are inherently more critical than most people and most professions and that might lead to being more critical and maybe less satisfied with one's life. Ergo, less happy.

 

[smieglitz]

Perhaps that poll is being misinterpreted. It ranked those who were "very happy," and not just "happy" with their profession. That qualifier makes a big difference. What about those who are merely satisfied with the daily grind? There is quite a spectrum from being very happy to absolutely hating what one does. This poll seemed to only report the one extreme.

And, IIRC only about half the MDs were very happy. It seemed at quick glance that those professions requiring a lot of tuition scored much lower than what I would have thought. Perhaps expectations are higher and rewards actually lower in certain professions leading to dissonance in satisfaction.

 

[Drew B.]

Well, I've retired from a profession that is number 3...and photography, well, I'm very happy whenever I go out to do some shooting. I make some money and hope to make more over time. I guess I'm just a somewhat glass is half-full type of guy. My pulse goes up when I just pick up a camera... As Mr Brunner has stated, one has to choose to be happy!

 

[BobNewYork]

Yeah. I guess at the end of the day you have to define "Happy". As a photographer you have creative instinct and whatever the art director says you just KNOW you have a better feel for the aesthetics of the image. That just goes with the territory. But let's face it your happiness level rises once the cheque clears! I suspect there are few professions where your job is also your hobby. (Not many bankers lend money in their spare time!) and so the commercial assignments are often thought of as 'getting in the way' of your real work. Have to say, I'm happy and after all these years I'm still into my photography. In fact I was saying just the other day that when I open a new box of paper I still get that same thrill that I got when I opened my first pack of paper Lo these many years ago!

 

[cole]

Since the early Reagan administration I have been creating photographs full time.
I only make photographs that I like to make (this means no commercial or contract work ) and sell then in order to have the freedom to make more photographs and live the way I what to live. This make me very happy.

cole

 

[johnnywalker]

As Mr. Brunner says, "As happy as I choose. That is up to me." And everyone has their own definition of happiness. Personally I'm not happy unless I have something to be grumpy about

 

[Black Dog]

So maybe happiness is being a creative accountant?

 

[Trevor Crone]

I love what I do and I do what I love.

Sadly photography alone could not sustain the likes of Diane Arbus or Bob Carlos Clarke.

 

[Cheryl Jacobs]

I think it's important to remember that "photographer" is a very broad term. It includes teenagers snapping photos at Kiddie Kandids, budget wedding photographers working sixty weddings a year to scrape by, news photographers who endure all sorts of stress and see tragedy daily, and cameramen, like my husband, who shoot video either in the studio or in the field. There are a lot more of those types than the high-dollar fashion photogs and such. I feel very lucky to be a portrait and commercial shooter with a very unique and selective clientele. I don't always have a lot of money, but sometimes I do, and I enjoy my work either way.

- CJ

 

[Iwagoshi]

This is a most enlightening thread. 30 years ago, when I was trying to decide what I wanted to be, I elected not to pursue my passion--photography--as a career. I did not want to turn this passion into the profane and eventually into the mundane. In hindsight, and reinforced by some of the comments here, it appears that I might have made the right choice. 30 years later the flame still burns. - Terry

 

[BobNewYork]

That's an excellent point Terry. Whether you earn your living from it or not does not determine whether or not you are a photographer. And, at the end of the day the reality is that following your passion does not necessarily make you a good human being. Edward Weston, IMO was a superb photographer - but he wasn't much of a father or husband. Aaaaah the trade-offs of life!

 

[Snapshot]

As Mr. Brunner says, "As happy as I choose. That is up to me." And everyone has their own definition of happiness. Personally I'm not happy unless I have something to be grumpy about

I'm reminded of a Ren and Stimpy cartoon where Ren says...

"You're darn tootin' I'm angry! I've never been so angry in my ENTIRE LIFE!!! Wait a minute. I feel GREAT. I love being angry. Thank you, Stimpy."

 

[Jim Chinn]

I have found that over the years people who were heavily involved in some type of hobby or activity away from the job for the most part are happier then those who were not. Does not matter if they are doctors or plumbers. I don't think the activity has to be art related. I know folks involved in activities as diverse as model trains and building and racing stock cars. I don't know the specifics of their daily lives but when I have been around them or their families they they seem to really enjoy life.

Maybe it is as simple as having a "life" outside of the job that makes the diference between happy or not.

 

[Vonder]

Maybe

I have found that over the years people who were heavily involved in some type of hobby or activity away from the job for the most part are happier then those who were not. Does not matter if they are doctors or plumbers. I don't think the activity has to be art related. I know folks involved in activities as diverse as model trains and building and racing stock cars. I don't know the specifics of their daily lives but when I have been around them or their families they they seem to really enjoy life.

Maybe it is as simple as having a "life" outside of the job that makes the diference between happy or not.

I haved always envied and admired those who do what they love. One of my professors in graduate school was that way. Devoted, focussed, never too busy to stop and talk about his work, but his personal life was strained. I met his wife a couple times and she mentioned, often, how he was never around. He of course seemed oblivious to her comments.

One must strike a balance between vocation and avocation. Well, not "must" but maybe that's best. Devoting one's life, to either one, to the detriment of the other, seems... wanting?

 

[davetravis]

Creative individuals are usually frustrated because they have to keep creating.
This describes me rather nicely.
For 23 years as a software nerd, when I was doing "maintenance" I was bored and unhappy. The most fun and enjoyment came from the challenges of doing "new development." The same is true in my photography/printing. I get bored printing the same ole shots over and over again and eventually get "the call of the wild." Camping and finding new material brings me the most joy, and sorta refreshes my spirit back to containment, until the next rush of need. So I guess it's really all about what you're doing as a photographer that determines how happy you are.

 

[steelydam]

My undergrad degree is in art with photography emphasis but compared to many of my classmates, I wasn't very talented. I had a blast taking all the cool classes though, and would recommend taking an art degree to anyone.

For me, a stable career in the field wasn't likely to happen without more sustained effort than I was willing to expend, so I wussed out and did something entirely different that promised to be more stable. I'm very happy in my career now and having photography as a serious side pursuit enriches my life more than anything except my family. It is great to be liberated from having to worry about whether something will sell or not. I get such a charge from such mundane things as a friend or even my wife liking one of my photos enough to ask for a print to put up on the wall.

 

[Paul Goutiere]

How can we be happy?

We are born, painfully, live 80 or more years in grief and suffering then we die. An then after we die we either go to heaven with all those horrible "goodie two shoes" for eternity or hell and get splashed around in fire and stuff.

This is just awful!

 

[panastasia]

This is a most enlightening thread. 30 years ago, when I was trying to decide what I wanted to be, I elected not to pursue my passion--photography--as a career. I did not want to turn this passion into the profane and eventually into the mundane. In hindsight, and reinforced by some of the comments here, it appears that I might have made the right choice. 30 years later the flame still burns. - Terry

Terry,

I agree, I've enjoyed photography for more than 30 also, and when opportunity knocked I went for it and made lots of money in short spurts. The money made me happy not the work (I was happy to find work at the time, but that's a different kind of "happy"). Otherwise, I mostly enjoy my personal work and find happiness in some of the results - and the way it brings joy to others. As a profession/career, serving customers, I would have quit long ago.

"30 years later the flame still burns". Well said.

Regards,
Paul

 

[ooze]

In Orhan Pamuk's book "My Name Is Red", a character named Enishte Efendi gives the following advice:
"If you want to be happy in miniature and art never consider it as your profession. No matter how much talent and skill you have, look for money and power elsewhere, so that if your talent is not rewarded you don't feel angry with art."

I've stuck this on my darkroom wall, always visible.

The above is my own humble translation from Turkish. The wording in the English translation of the book may be different, but I guess the essence would be the same.

Cheers,
omar

 

[patrickjames]

I think photography is the most bipolar of professions.

Patrick

 

[DanielOB]

Many (former) photographers had to quit photography and to switch to “new and improved” way to produce picture in the quick way. It was surviving requirement on the moment. However that new medium is cold, not touchable, medium without passion, you just feel so empty doing it again and again. Job without a hope and without possibility to touch the beauty. That sort of former “switched” photographers are huge part of unhappy. The happy part do the same job but they are born under computer keyboard, so dig. picture making is all they know. Actually (my opinion) they have no idea what happiness is. On another hand, to photographers today is left art photography as only choice, just simple because it is the only possibility for photography today and in future. Like painting. No one make painting to show news, nor it ever was its purpose.

I too was pressed to quit what I learned and did all my life in past, B&W photography, but I found different way to make my living.
I decided to add something on my squeezed photography. I looked at my hands and decided to restore my old knowledge about oil paintings. Actually that two things are I am trained for on Academy, so nothing unknown. To them I added one natural extension business, framing.
So now, with B&W photography, Oil Painting, and Framing I can say that my photography life is even far more exciting and nicer than in past. Doing all of that three things how one can be unhappy?

Daniel OB

 

[Christopher Walrath]

This one is. (prev posts unread, answer self sure)

 

[JBrunner]

Many (former) photographers had to quit photography and to switch to “new and improved” way to produce picture in the quick way. It was surviving requirement on the moment. However that new medium is cold, not touchable, medium without passion, you just feel so empty doing it again and again. Job without a hope and without possibility to touch the beauty. That sort of former “switched” photographers are huge part of unhappy. The happy part do the same job but they are born under computer keyboard, so dig. picture making is all they know. Actually (my opinion) they have no idea what happiness is. On another hand, to photographers today is left art photography as only choice, just simple because it is the only possibility for photography today and in future. Like painting. No one make painting to show news, nor it ever was its purpose.

I too was pressed to quit what I learned and did all my life in past, B&W photography, but I found different way to make my living.
I decided to add something on my squeezed photography. I looked at my hands and decided to restore my old knowledge about oil paintings. Actually that two things are I am trained for on Academy, so nothing unknown. To them I added one natural extension business, framing.
So now, with B&W photography, Oil Painting, and Framing I can say that my photography life is even far more exciting and nicer than in past. Doing all of that three things how one can be unhappy?

Daniel OB

Quite elegantly put. Thank you, Daniel.

 

[haris]

I once read somewhere this: "Best way to hate your hobby is to make it profession."