Just What Is a "Professional Photographer"

"What is a professional photographer?  This is a question I find myself pondering of late.  More importantly than this question, I find myself wondering if one can be a professional photographer and not be an artist, and conversely, can one be a "Photographic Artist" without per say being a professional photographer?  For 20 years I was a potter and sculptor, that is what I did for a living, and it was what the world saw me as.  There was never the word "professional" attached to that occupation, and by virtue of my work on display at various shows and exhibits I was considered an artist.  End of story.  No one asked for my qualifications, no one asked if I had ever sold anything that gave me the right to claim the title of potter, sculptor and artist.  I just was.

Photography seems much different.  Someone who takes pictures of used cars for those free car magazines you pick up in the grocery store will tell you that he/she is a professional photographer, as well the person who takes the picture at the local high school football game on a Friday night will do the same.  They seem to claim the title of professional photographer by  mere virtue of drawing a pay check each week for taking pictures of some questionable quality with a camera that is usually some relic from days gone by.   Yet, many art photographers, some of whom who have had one man/woman shows in some very prestigious spaces yet have not actually SOLD THEIR WORK are not considered professionals...does this small detail make them any less  a professional photographer?  If so, then one has to ponder another question, are many of those who profess to be professional photographers not artists?  Should art photographers be looked at differently than professional photographers?  Should there be two very distinct and different classifications?

Sure some people are both artist and professional photographer, but at what point does one cease being considered an amateur photographer, and move on to that space in modern day society where they can say without reservation or guilt that they are a professional photographer?  Does selling a piece of your work, even if it was to your Mom or Grandmother officially make you a professional photographer?  Does learning how to push the button on the camera at the Mall when Santa Clause is in town make you a profession photographer?  More importantly, what distinguishes you as an artist in the field of photography?  Anyone who picks up a camera and takes a picture is suddenly a photographer, but where do we draw the line after that?  Who is a professional photographer, who is a photographic artist?

One can take a class, pass a test and they are suddenly a "Real Estate Agent" even though they have never held a job as such, nor sold one house.  You can get a license to drive a taxi by paying the DMV a fee of $30 so they can send you a new license denoting your eligibility and sudden qualification to be a taxi cab driver, and there is not even a test involved.  In some small towns the mayor becomes judge by mere virtue of having gotten elected despite their lack of experience or qualifications to be a judge.  So, on this night I find myself asking the question, "Just what is a professional photographer?"  Has having a camera built into every cell phone that has the ability to upload a picture to the world wide web down graded photography to a point where most people no longer see it as a true art form, thus creating a situation where you are only a professional photographer when someone is paying you to click the button that activates the shutter on whatever camera they happen to send you out into the field with?

I am pondering this, as I get asked this question in various ways on a daily basis.  "Do you work for a paper or magazine?"  or the straight to the point question, "Are you a professional?"  For the record, I have never held a job as a photographer, not worked for a paper or a magazine in the capacity of photographer.  Photography up to this point in my life has never been a full time occupation or vocation.  So, if having a JOB related to photography is that magic line in the sand, then suppose I am not a professional photographer.  I have though been hired to take pictures at a whole lot of events, even sold many of my pictures to various individuals who felt compelled to have one or more of my pieces hanging in their homes.  I even have my own business cards, and if you are reading this blog you already know I have an internet presence.   I  work diligently at my craft, put many hours in each and every week hopefully honing my skills as a photographer.  Do these facts make me a professional photographer even though I have never held a JOB in the field?  Or perhaps, because I tend to take photographs that are more art than commercial in scope, perhaps I am an art photographer?  If I am an art photographer, where does the whole professional photographer thing come into play, and perhaps most importantly is it a label as an artist that I want, as in my mind that is what I am, an artist?