what makes you a photographer

[meehaja]

slightly odd question I've been pondering...

If I set up a scene, set up the camera and the lights, but someone else pushes the shutter release, can I still claim to be the photographer?

Obviously from an art point of view I can claim the picture as my intellectual property even though someone else actually created it (ala damien hirst).

I think it might be situational, I realise, If i say to someone "take a picture of that" then so long as they compose the shot it is theirs, but does pushing a button make you a photographer?

 

[modchild]

Good point, you can claim creation rights but probably not everything. Best way is to get a remote release and do it yourself, then you can claim that you did the lot.

 

[happyfish]

I'd definitely say you are the photographer.

is it your camera?
does that other person normally take photographs?
maybe that other person would be a student and so on.

your camera, your scene, your edit, your the photographer.

 

[brianwar]

slightly odd question I've been pondering...

If I set up a scene, set up the camera and the lights, but someone else pushes the shutter release, can I still claim to be the photographer?

Obviously from an art point of view I can claim the picture as my intellectual property even though someone else actually created it (ala damien hirst).

I think it might be situational, I realise, If i say to someone "take a picture of that" then so long as they compose the shot it is theirs, but does pushing a button make you a photographer?

Rankin, La Chappelle and Crewdson to name but a few would be screwed if it did.

 

[Daryl]

What makes you a photographer?

Shooting everyday.
Getting paid for jobs
Not working a full normal day
Endless women wanting to be in your company...... (at least 3 in the convertable) 6 by the pool.

Did I miss anything?

 

[Forbiddenbiker]

Nine women and some humility I think ..

 

[Duke_Haphazard]

I think there's being a photographer and being a Photographer.

It'd hard to describe but there's like a devide. Whilst you can take pictures with a flashy camera and sell them, you are a photographer, but only as a hobby. But for people who are paid big money for shoots and different companies want them in particular, they are a different breed.

 

[ZoneV]

What makes you a photographer?

Shooting everyday.
Getting paid for jobs
Not working a full normal day
Endless women wanting to be in your company...... (at least 3 in the convertable) 6 by the pool.

Did I miss anything?

Yea, not saying "say cheese!" before taking portraits.

 

[jacob12_1993]

Rankin, La Chappelle and Crewdson to name but a few would be screwed if it did.

But surely they haven't got their by just pressing the shutter? They have built up their work to the point they are now. This is through skill, creativity, vision, marketing etc etc. There's more to a shoot than actually clicking the shutter

 

[crofter]

Na, you have to press the button otherwise it's like having a shag without the vinegar stroke.