Show me the work

Recently, I was listening to a photography podcast where the host discussed credentials, specifically, he was talking about photographers who list their certification initials behind their names much like PhD. His take and mine are so what. I’ll make a play on a quote from Jerry Maquire, “show me the work”.

Education and demonstration of knowledge are important, but does it matter where or how? I know I have blasted the University of YouTube in the past and probably will continue. Not that YouTube isn’t a valuable tool when used properly. It can be as much and at times more valuable than books but it can also be a disaster waiting to happen.

I got a photography education from an online school. It was a self-paced course that took me about 2 years to complete a bit shorter than average for the school. Does it matter that I got a certificate on the wall? Maybe. It made a difference to me and my work. In reviewing images I took prior to the course to work towards the end of the course and since, it has made a huge difference. For me, had it not been for the school I would likely have not learned much about flash and studio lighting or light modifiers. I would have probably not become begun to work with models or portraits.

I recently posted about the bar having been set too low for professional photographers and I believe it has and that always raises the question of having some sort of certification process to go through before being able to call yourself a professional photographer. Even if such a process were required it wouldn’t stop the GWAC (guys/gals with a camera) from charging people for portraits nor would we want it to stop them, at least I wouldn’t want it to stop them.

I have been a member of a professional photographers organization. There are some great benefits to joining one but there are also some things that aren’t so great. One of those “not so great” things, to me, was the mindset that the membership and organization was better than everyone else. Granted, there are some people who were members who were fantastic photographers, but those people would have been fantastic without the organization. It all comes down to show me the work.