Share article:
Share article:

Every artist was first an amateur.Ralph Waldo Emerson

1 - Introduction
An amateur is someone who does something for the love of it. The wordamateuris French and comes from the Latin wordAmatorem. Both words mean ‘lover’, someone who does something for the love of it in the context of this essay.By comparison a professional is someone who makes a living from what they do, from selling fine art photographs in this instance.
 
2 - All artists start as amateurs
I am an amateur and I intend to stay that way for the rest of my life.André Kertész
As fine art photographers, which is the intended audience for this essay, we all start as amateurs. Some of us remain amateurs our whole life, doing what we do to further our passion.  Others decide to become professionals doing what we do to generate an income.  Whatever the case might be, the difference outlined in the introduction remains the same.  The amateur creates art for the love of it while th...

Read this story and all the best stories on The Luminous Landscape

The author has made this story available to Luminous Landscape members only. Upgrade to get instant access to this story and other benefits available only to members.

Why choose us?

Luminous-Landscape is a membership site. Our website contains over 5300 articles on almost every topic, camera, lens and printer you can imagine. Our membership model is simple, a Dollar-a-Month ($12.00 USD a year). This $12 gains you access to a wealth of information including all our past and future video tutorials on such topics as Lightroom, Capture One, Printing, file management and dozens of interviews and travel videos.

  • New Articles every few days
  • All original content found nowhere else on the web
  • No Pop Up Google Sense ads – Our advertisers are photo related
  • Download/stream video to any device
  • NEW videos monthly
  • Top well-known photographer contributors
  • Posts from industry leaders
  • Speciality Photography Workshops
  • Mobile device scalable
  • Exclusive video interviews
  • Special vendor offers for members
  • Hands On Product reviews
  • FREE – User Forum. One of the most read user forums on the internet
  • Access to our community Buy and Sell pages; for members only.
Share article:
Alain Briot creates fine art photographs, teaches workshops and offers DVD tutorials on composition, raw conversion, optimization, printing and marketing. Alain is the author of Mastering Landscape Photography, Mastering Photographic Composition and Marketing Fine Art Photography. All 3 books are available from Alain’s website as well as from most bookstores. You can find more information about Alain's work, writings and tutorials as well as subscribe to Alain’s Free Monthly Newsletter on his <a href="http://www.beautiful-landscape.com/">website</a>. You will receive over 40 essays in PDF format, including chapters from Alain’s books, when you subscribe.
See all articles by this author

You may also like

qqi
Camera & Technology

The Best Black Friday Camera Deals for Photographers in 2024

The best Black Friday deals on photography and outdoor gear—whether you’re buying or just browsing for fun.
Jon Swindall

Jon Swindall

·

November 27, 2024

·

4 minutes read


ly
Community

Best Photo Books Ever! -  Part One

Unlock creativity with these foundational photo books.
Jon Swindall

Jon Swindall

·

November 25, 2024

·

6 minutes read