Fifteen years ago, I took over the editorship of Professional Photographer magazine in the UK. I had never edited a magazine before, but I had been working as a professional photographer for ten years, at that point, and I had art directed magazines for the previous fifteen. Therefore, I knew about the subject and the process of producing a magazine. However, I was surprised that I was the only person working on a photography magazine in the UK, at the time, who had ever worked as a professional photographer. No one else had any real life experience as a commissioned photographer, despite their willingness to pronounce their views and opinions on the subject.

The first thing I did with the magazine was to remove all wedding and event photography. I also removed the regular Photoshop tuition pages and the camera reviews. This was considered to be sacriligous and arrogant by many readers who stopped buying the magazine. However, there was method and logic to my actions. I wanted the magazine to be for all professional photographers who were commissioned by brands, magazines and newspapers. Those like me and whom I knew. The BJP was not appealing to this audience, as it had veered towards contempory art practice and there were other titles on the newstand, focused on weddings and events photographers. I wanted Professional Photographer to be different.

Sales dropped and advertising revenue rocketed, as the camera brands recognised that the magazine I was editing, producing and designing was reaching the small, but important community they had always wanted to reach, but had previously been unable to, through magazines. Professional photographers. Inevitably, such success put the spotlight on me as the editor. Those on the rival magazines sniped, gossiped and tried to cause trouble for the strident magazine that PP had become. That was fine with me, but what was most interesting, was how those who had never worked as photographers professionally, kept wanting me, to define to them,what the words ‘professional photographer’ meant to me. What was my definition? They challenged.

This forced me to reflect on my understanding and come up with an answer that made sense based on my personal knowledge and experience. Today, I see some much confusion and miss-information on social media, concerning what the definition of a professional photographer and professional photography is, it seemed to me that it would be a good idea to suggest some clarity. Therefore, I thought that I would share my definitions, from when I was editing PP, as I think they remain true today. This is what I came up with.

I broke the idea of professional photography into two separate approaches and therefore titles. Those who photograph weddings, engagements and family portraits, I describe as ‘domestic professional photographers’. This is because they are commissioned by people who are not professional commissioners and are reliant on finding domestic clients. Domestic professionals lose their client after every commission, and therefore, have to be really good at marketing, usually in their local area. They may work full-time as a photographer, or have another source of income outside of photography, either way if they get paid, in my opinion, they are a professional photographer and therefore need to accept the responsibilities that come with that title, including insurance, ethical considerations and providing a professional service.

The second title is perhaps obviously ‘professional photographer’. A title defined by being paid either on a commissioned basis and being commissioned by people whose role it is within a company to commission photography. Or by consistently selling your work in book or print form. The professional photographer’s challenge is to work for clients, whilst hopefully building a relationship with them. Providing work completed to meet a brief, in a polite and professional manner is a given, with the hope of being commissioned repeatedly by the same client. Such relationships can last many years and provide a foundation for a professional photographic practice. If you get paid then photography is your profession. You may get commissioned or sell your work as prints or books, all of these are commercial transactions and all of these can provide an income. That in turn gives you a viable photographic practice. That process makes you a professional. It really is that simple.

Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8 magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020) and Inside Vogue House: One building, seven magazines, sixty years of stories, (Orphans Publishing 2024). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.

© Grant Scott 2026