Shashin
Well-known member
That is a modern inflection on the word "pro." It was not that long ago when the amateur (coming from the Latin to love or lover) was considered the superior position. Pros, after all, were just doing it for the money. And the recognition of commercial art as fine art is also very recent. (Depending on the period in history, both "amateur" and "professional" were used as pejoratives.)The obvious association of "pro" is "high level", but in reality it will not be difficult to find some amateurs who produce images better than some pros.
There are two problems with the idea of finding the amateur that is "better." How do you grade "better" in a work of art? And is a particular photograph indicative of the photographer's work, or an outlier. One part of mastering an art form, and I think that is a better expression in regards to this, is that the photographer consistently does good work. Many people that derive a living from photography are consistent.
Now, the idea that pros are somehow at a pinnacle of the art is really too narrow a definition and not one that is true. The photographers that run Sears photo portrait studios are pros, but there are certainly better examples of portraits. Julia Margaret Cameron was an amateur. Many of who we think are great photographers subsidized their photography with other jobs or can simply afford it.
Personally, I think the idea of mastery is much better. It has nothing to do with personal taste, but a level of execution that is consistent and high. It also goes beyond what you like or dislike--believe it or not, quality in photography is not obvious (pictures of cute fuzzy animals and half naked beautiful people being the apparent exception), it is a lot tricker than that.
The tools are important in two ways. They do not hamper the way you work and they provide a quality and look you want. That is it. It does not matter if that is a Holga, MFD, cell phone, 8x10 monorail, or pinhole camera. Now, if we were really honest, photographers would admit the real reason they buy a particular camera is because they think it is cool, but that would be a hard sell to the significant other--justification is just the rationalization of desire.