What happened to the art

It starts off simple enough, a person gets a camera and some photography gear to start a hobby. You know to relieve the stress from the daily grind. Suddenly, friends and family start to comment that the photographs are great. Now the new photographer starts to think, “Hey I can make some money with my photography” and so it begins. I’ve been there and done that myself.

I know many photographers and few that actually do photography just for the art they can create. What happened to the art? Are we getting so seduced by money that we forget about why we started our photography journey? Are we willing to prostitute ourselves and our art just for a buck? I used to think photography could make me some extra money but now I’ve decided to do my photography for me, creating the photographs I want, how I want when I want. I may try to display them in art shows, but I may not. I may try to sell some of them but I may not. I’m back to doing my photography to give me something to do and to create art. Everything shouldn’t be about making money, some things should be about expressing yourself.