THfe WOMBAT. 23 



amount of money the amateur has spent upon his hobby and 

 the extent to which manufacturers, photographic merchants 

 and dealers have benefited in comparison with the infinitely 

 smaller amount of loss sustained by the professional through 

 amateur competition. Many amateurs (myself among the 

 number) have spent several hundred pounds upon their hobby 

 when times were perhaps more prosperous than at present, 

 and that without any thought or desire of making money out 

 of it, and if things are not now so flourishing, surely it is a 

 small matter that he should use any occasional opportunity 

 which may present itself to lessen his expenses to some 

 extent. 



In the latter part of the paragraph quoted at the begin- 

 ning of this article the writer suggests that if the amateur 

 does or must enter, into competition with the professional, " let 

 him do it fairly . . . open a studio and start a legitimate 

 business, or else work for the love of the thing alone." 



The above words imply that every amateur who takes 

 another person's portrait, or in an}' way comes into competi- 

 tion with a professional, is dishonest unless he launches out in 

 a fully equipped studio or place of business. This I cannot 

 agree with, and methinks were every amateur so offending .to 

 act on the suggestion and start a professional business, the 

 professionals themselves would be the very first to complain. 

 It would then be a matter of the " survival of the fittest," much 

 to the disadvantage of the professionals as a class, and 

 probable advantage to many an amateur who is now content 

 to hide his light under a bushel and bud and bloom unseen— 

 or, at any rate, unknown to the photographic world. 



On the other hand, should the amateur choose the alter- 

 native suggestion and " work for the love of the thing alone " 

 — supposing his means would allow — he would do the profes- 

 sional far more harm than at present appears to be the case. 

 The great ambition of every amateur who has a soul above 

 snap-shotting a gum tree is to excel in portraiture. To do 

 this he must have practice and therefore sitters. The por- 

 traits are developed, printed, finished. If caricatures, no 

 doubt they are put out of their misery in the fireplace, and so 

 far from harm being done to the trade the result is to drive 

 the sitter to the professional in disgust. On the contrary, 

 should the portrait have merit, the least the amateur 

 can do is to give the friend who so kindly sat for him 

 a few copies. It can easily be imagined that the sitter, 

 if pleased with her portrait, will show it to her friends 

 and probably introduce them to the successful amateur with 

 the object of obtaining a sitting for them. And so 

 ad infinitum. This is photography for " the love of the thing." 

 Does this do the professional no harm ? Rather ! I call to 

 mind at this moment a " real live amateur " — not one with a 



