So, one time I took a two night class on "Selling your photographs." The teacher was truly accomplished in that, made a living doing both free lance and assignment work of travel and nature photographs. Believe it or not, there were several individuals in the class who obviously weren't even "doing" photography yet, just dreaming of an end result! One woman asked, "What kind of camera should I get?"
Before the teacher could respond, I blurted, "An Argus C3 and a roll of Tri-X." Stunned silence as he tried to process that. I don't remember what he eventually said.
The second night I brought in a book by Helmut Newton, one of my favorites. He looked through it at said, "I don't get it." That was a major "Ah ha!" moment for me, understanding a difference that is not often seen.
That teacher was a master at what I now call "Pretty pictures." Which is what most of the public confuses as art. You know flowers, sunsets, puppies. If a response to a photograph is "Ah................", it sucks.
Which is why there was a market for his work.
