No one ever asks me this by the way. I think I ask it more of myself. So it seemed like a good thing to note down for future me, and anyone else who cares to read.
I used to think that to be a great photographer you needed to sell your prints (yes, I’m an idiot). Within the first month of me owning a DSLR I started up on Fine Art America, a popular artist website for selling print on demand. I put something in my about section along the lines of, “I do this for fun and sell my photographs so that I can buy better camera gear”. It was honest, but quite quickly some critique of my portfolio said I need to sell myself more, which felt a bit disingenuous but if that’s what people are doing to sell prints right?
After 8 years with a DSLR now and being more serious about my photography hobby I’m happy saying I’m a hobby photographer. Not a professional. I don’t do this for a paycheque. I do this for fun. But photography is the only hobby where I’ve had a focus on selling an end product. Why is that?
Accessibility might be one reason. In today’s market anyone can put their photographs online and make them available for sale. There’s a plethora of markets to sell prints online. Fine Art America, it’s sister site Pixels and PicFair. That’s before we even get started on stock photography. Will you sell? Maybe, if you put in the hours and have some keen marketing skills and some great photography. Have I sold? Sure, the odd print here and there. That’s not a humble brag either. It’s by no means enough to live on.
So here, now, today. Why do I have prints for sale? I’ve decided to host my site on Squarespace. Sure, every single Content Creator (love that term) or YouTuber under the sun will tell you how brilliant it is at some point in their videos. But it’s not cheap. I definitely don’t make enough money selling prints alone to afford this website. So why do I do it?
The truth is, I like to see this site as my little corner of the internet. I can make it how I want and post the images that I want. It’s mine to share with others. It’s that little part of myself that I don’t mind putting out there into the world. Quite simply this is me. So in turn, someone buying a print from this site is the best like, the greatest thumbs up or the highest accolade that I view as being achievable in my hobby. Someone willing to take something I’ve created and (I hope) make a space for it in their home, in their world.
But what if nothing ever sells. What if no one likes my photographs enough to buy them? This used to bother me a lot. But not anymore. Sure, there might come a point where I see this hobby as too expensive to keep putting myself out there. Everything comes to an end eventually. But for now, I’m happy just knowing that my photographs are there to enjoy.
Hi, I’m Scott, a hobby photographer. I do this for fun.
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