How to sell photography

Best Ways To Make Money Selling Photography:

How important is it for a beginner to study the masters Rowell, Adams, Weston etc. when learning photography?

Public Comments

1. A simple anology would be like building a house without a foundation. How can you possibly understand technique, beauty, and what defines a Master, unless you have had the opportunity to study their work.
2. Not just beginners, how do you know what is a good picture till you start to look at some? Having someone explain why it's good is really useful, this is where a course at a college or a good photographic club comes in. It's very difficult to learn in isolation, not impossible, just takes an awful lot longer. Heres a good site to start if you haven't already found it. http://www.masters-of-photography.com/ Chris
3. If they're sincerely interested in photography, I'd say it's very important. Sadly, though, as you well know ... that ain't likely to happen with most of this recent crop. Is it? Of course, the good news is they won't stay round long. The bad news is ... they'll just be replaced by a new crop of dunderheads. (Ooo! Ouch! That's too much cynicism for a lovely Sunday morning in Hawaii. Think I'll go for a swim ...)
4. I think it greatly depends upon what area of photography you wish to pursue. Since my area was mostly portraiture with a bunch of commercial thrown in, I didn't NEED to study the masters, although I was always fond of Weston. I actually feel I was more influenced by Edward Hopper, Salvatore Dali and other great artists rather than photographers
5. If you love photography and you want to be great . . . no matter what form of photography you intend to get inot . . . you should study the masters. You can always learn something.
6. I'm not being contrarian for the sake of it if I say I don't know MM - except that they can be huge inspiration, or an outright intimidation! You reminded me of a story about Brahms, who listened to Beethoven and stopped composing for many years because he felt he couldn't achieve such perfection himself - what a shame... From a personal viewpoint, I believe studying the masters is much more beneficial when you have a little more understanding of both basic and advanced technique, so you can deconstruct what went on and why. I think this gives you, if anything, an even greater appreciation of their incredible artistry and technique. At beginner level I think core business is studying the basics and learning them really well, which is where most photographers, even well practiced ones, fall down.
7. I side with the Violator here. When you are a beginner, you are probably so overwhelmed with pointing the lens in the right direction that to study the masters would be either a waste of time or totally intimidating. Save them for the second year. If it's a classroom setting, also, you have to teach to the median student. Half of the students are below average in ability AND aspirations.