Is there money in LF portrait work?

[Wayne Crider]

After perusing the recent View Camera newsstand copy with the wonderful pictures of wet plate and Tintype's, I was wondering if there was still a viable market for LF portrait work, whether Alt or not. I've read over and over again over the last decade where LF cameras came to the market from studio use being apparently replaced with MF possibly, and eventually with digital recording. It seems now that the use of LF might be so unique that a person could garner a name if good enough with technique. I know that the market so to say is in the dumpster, but I still wonder. Mostly because it looks as if I'll be a partner in a different type business, but where I can set up a backdrop in a rather large unused space.

[Jim Michael]

You can always create a market where none exists. The challenge is getting your message to those who are going to sustain your business. It's questionable whether LF itself is a prime motivator, so you may need another, i.e. something that strongly differentiates you from anyone else doing portraiture in your target market and in which customers can see the value.

Re the current economy, even with 20% real unemployment there is a segment of the market that has money and will spend it if the value is there. Leave the low end to the bottom feeders.

[Greg Blank]

Added disclaimer: If you can afford to.

Leave the low end to the bottom feeders.

[eddie]

the short answer No.

but people are doing it.....so maybe sometimes would be a better answer.

i too thought that WPC would sell. i have been trying to do formal portraits using WPC and have approached wedding photographers in an attempt to add me to there list of offerings. while everyone says it is great no paid work yet....now at the same time i have not been overly aggressive pushing this as i am not officially starving and can pay my bills using my automotive training.....

now i need to get a copy of he VCM.

cheers

eddie

[cjbroadbent]

Thats what Howard Coster said to my dad in 1927.
Coster made his mark doing carbon print portraits of men only, creating a market by doing it different, as Jim says above.

[Louie Powell]

This is really a marketing question.

I suspect that there is a small market for LF portraiture, but that it is very widespread, and as a result, the number of practitioners that the market can support is quite limited. And unfortunately, the market is probably declining. The combination of what I call the "Walmart syndrome" (screw quality - just make it cheaper), the advance of digital technology, and the notion that anyone can now be a portrait photographer is causing the demand for high-quality portraiture to shrink.

There are some notable example of LF portraitists who appear to be very successful - Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, for example. But also know a guy in the mid-west who had a successful portraiture business based on LF who is seriously struggling.

[BarryS]

If you're asking whether you can sell LF as a brand--I think the answer is no. It's getting harder to find photgraphers that can recognize LF, let alone the general public. Portrait/Wedding photographers sell themselves and their personal style--not their equipment.

A friend that runs a gallery asked if I wanted to do alt process portraits at an upcoming arts event associated with some new housing in a local arts district. The woman representing the housing development was excited about bringing in a photographer, but went on to say the price point should be $20-$25/package--you know, like Sears.

You can open a business and make LF part of your brand, but I don't see it as a big selling point.

[Frank Petronio]

I don't think your choice of a camera or technique is as much a factor as how you relate to your subjects. That said, success is more about marketing and hard work than sheer talent.

I don't know who the highest paid photographers are, but that Aussie guy who sells panoramic photos in Vegas and Annie Liebowitz come to mind, both of whom work their asses off in spite of their rather mediocre "gifts".

[D. Bryant]

Annie Liebowitz .

Leibovitz ...

[Wayne Crider]

Well I'm not really surprised by the answers as I can recall reading then over and over again over the years in different forms and concerning different photographic systems.
I think I'm going to take a different tack on the idea. What is happening is that a small group of us are opening a new rehearsal/recording studio, so there are lots of musicians around. The business exist now. I think I'll just ask some of them to sit for me and have fun at recording the groups in both LF and digital. Maybe a couple of posters on the walls or pictures sprinkled around will garner some business. I have been approached for my video work for these people, but I am looking to get some still work, and I thought it would be unique to use a large camera which always seems to elicit some interesting remarks. I couldn't make less then what I'm making on my landscapes; Which is nothing and the expense is still there.