Rongnongno wrote:
I was looking at a couple of professional photographers websites.
All but one are in a rut. They have a formula, follow it and never deviate. The result is utterly boring. Clients of course have no idea, as they get what they pay for, whatever that maybe.
There is nothing wrong on the client side, but on the photographer's?
Nothing wrong there, either...
Professional photography is, first and foremost, a business. The photographer may have started as a creative enthusiast, but to sustain status as a photographer, and to eat, one must profit from the work. Competence counts more than creativity.
Consider these scenarios:
A commercial photo illustrator works for ad agencies and art directors in them. The work has to satisfy the art director first. The photographer might have a very creative portfolio and got hired because the art director liked it, but once hired, the photographer has to satisfy the art director. Smart ones collaborate, but they all have very specific objectives for their ads, all of which must be met.
A portrait and wedding photographer works for families, couples, students, prominent business people and politicians, or anyone who will hire a portrait photographer. The "look" of samples is crucial to getting a job. But again, the client has specific objectives.
Yes, weddings have become formulaic. Wedding ceremonies are rituals, and parents of the bride want the usual parade of ritual images. There can be some creative illustration thrown in, but certain groups of people must be photographed together, because Aunt Jo and Uncle Marty have to have their portrait with the bride.
Graduating high school and college seniors also tend to buy formula images. The school usually wants a formal photo with a very specific look to it. Beyond that, sessions can become somewhat creative, but for a given grad year, an independent senior portrait boutique photographer serving the "carriage trade" (school "royalty") usually creates several themes, or packages of themes from which to choose. Maybe there is a list of locations. Maybe there is a studio with half a dozen setups (backgrounds, foregrounds, recommended clothing styles, etc.). Certainly there is a formula that works, carefully honed year after year, by business people who happen to be photographers. PPA and WPPI will see to that.
A contract school portrait photographer working for a national or regional chain has formulas for everything. Creativity is the province of product development staff at headquarters. They create the "sets" (backgrounds, lights, props, poses, options...). They often package and sell or rent the equipment setups. Since they sell the same "looks" regionally or nationally, the finished product has to look like the advertising poster, flyer, and prepay order envelope.
It's a marketplace that is a lot like commercial radio. Most people want to hear familiar program genres, such as rap, hip-hop, top 40, album oriented rock, middle of the road, news-talk, sports-talk, etc. They don't want to hear the "free form" sound of college radio, and few want to hear classical, jazz, blues jams, cross-genre, or other complex music. They want two to three simple songs in a row, punctuated with news, weather, and commercials. The long version or disco version of a '70s hit seldom makes it (or made it) on the air.
Buying photos is a lot like buying most products. You can go to the local chain and get soft drinks, or you can go to the farmers' market and buy fruits and veggies to make your own smoothies. It costs a lot more and is a lot more trouble to be creative. Creativity is not a recognizable product, so it is riskier, harder to define, harder to sell.
My point? If photographers want to sell something, it needs to be pre-definable. If they want to be creative, they should have a separate category of that on display, with defined boundaries and expectations.
If a photographer wants to be an artist and sell works (prints as products rather than services), then there is always the art show, the museum exhibit, or the online gallery. For most, that is an opportunity to starve.