24 THE WO MB AT. 



" ? " after the word — who was very successful in taking the 

 portraits of his lady friends. He developed the negatives and 

 then sent them to a professional to retouch. As the account 

 lor the latter work alone came to an average of about £$ per 

 quarter, this will give some idea of the extent to which the 

 profession suffered from one who did it " for the love of the 

 thing." An amateur can obtain any number of sitters if he 

 be successful with his camera and work " on the free ticket." 



We now come to the party known as the " questionable 

 amateurs " (?). And in this connection I wish to state most 

 distinctly that I have no sympathy whatever with the 

 so-called amateur who takes up photography from no love of 

 the art, but simply to make it pay. There are such, with an 

 inherited income sufficient to live upon in comparative luxury, 

 who have no hesitation in requesting their acquaintances to 

 " give them a sitting. They will do it cheaper than 

 so-and-so." Fortunately for the latter these persons' pre- 

 sumption is far greater than their skill with the camera ; con- 

 sequently the clients are few and far between. 



Personally I have great respect for the few professionals 

 of my acquaintance ; but, when we come to the point, what 

 were many of them before they laid claim to the title of pro- 

 fessional ? They were simply amateurs, and doing the very 

 things they now complain of in others. Examples 

 might easily be given. One who, in his spare time took por- 

 traits in his back yard, and charged for them. He succeeded 

 so well that he gradually threw up his trade, launched out as 

 a professional, and did an excellent business for many years. 

 A second who worked on similar lines and afterwards became 

 a well-known professional. Others that I know of were 

 amateur photographers before publicly entering the profes- 

 sion, one of whom rose to be the leading portrait photo- 

 grapher of his city. And so on with many others. Now, all 

 these were to a greater or less extent in active competition 

 with the then professionals long before they joined the ranks 

 themselves, and are only experiencing the same thing as their 

 predecessors did at their hands. 



One might also say something as to whether the profes- 

 sionals confine themselves to their trade, which in many 

 instances they do not. Not a few make and sell frames at 

 ridiculously low prices, and thus compete with the picture 

 frame makers. Others have shops, and combine photography 

 with storekeeping. 



In conclusion, let me say I have endeavoured to deal with 

 this vexed question in a fair, unbiassed manner, without any 

 desire to shield or champion the amateur, or to ignore the 

 claims of the professional. 



