how old is too old...

**Percy** · 31-Jan-2006, 08:10

Hi.
I have finally grown up, and decided what I want to be.
I have been made to understand, by various "underminers", that photography,
especially editorial and fashion, is a "young man's game". Living in the U.S. (by no
fault of mty own), it has been locally determined that youth is a condition I enjoyed in the distant past, having witnessed 42 revolutions of this pitiable globe 'round our nearest star.

Damn the torpedos, I say...

thoughts?

**Jim Galli** · 31-Jan-2006, 08:16

I dove in headlong when I was 45. I'll just have to work until I croak, that's all. Hell Henry was 56 I think when he built his first Ford.

**Kevin Crisp** · 31-Jan-2006, 08:28

Avedon didn't work after he was 26, did he?

**Steve Feldman** · 31-Jan-2006, 09:26

Col. Sanders started up the Kentucky Fried Chicken business when he was 65.

Photography a young man's / woman's game? Naw! But at 60 I've sworn off of weddings. Scenics don't care about my age. Rocks, trees and streams move at my pace.

**John Kasaian** · 31-Jan-2006, 09:48

Fashion? Thats like giving a squirrel nuts after he's lost all his teeth! ;-)

OTOH who was it who said: "Age dosen't matter unles you're cheese"?

I say go for it!

If you're an old guy you should be able to do anything you want---Old Guys Rule!

**Richard Boulware** · 31-Jan-2006, 09:57

One of the most hard problems for photographers is....Seeing what you are looking at. With age comes life experience which is one of the major sections of the 'tool-box' a photographer carries with him/her as they venture off to make pictures.

In photography, I propose that the older you are, the more life experience you have, the more you bring to your work.

Making great photographs is not because of a camera, lens and film. It is a process of the mind.

Even at my advanced age, my motto is the words attributed to Michelangelo.."Ancora Imparo".
or..... I am still learning.

"Fresh Eyes"......

**Ed Richards** · 31-Jan-2006, 10:22

You did really tell us what you wanted to be - a photographer of any sort, a fashion photographer, photojournalist ???

**Ed Richards** · 31-Jan-2006, 10:43

Should be "did not tell" - this is what happens when you get old.

**robc** · 31-Jan-2006, 10:53

with life expectancy going up, I'm told that 50 is the new 40.

**Don Wallace** · 31-Jan-2006, 11:07

As we all know, many people start new careers in middle age. Having said that, none of us is likely to break into boxing, i.e., there are limitations. You will have to design your photographic business based real limitations, realistic expectations, and careful planning, but that doesn't mean you can't do it. Find your niche, and good luck!