[navcom]

Very good points. I disagree though.

Let's compare it to the world of painting or other media arts besides photography. In the 19th century, art supplies were relatively expensive. In the last century, they became very affordable and mass produced, so much so that the ordinary person could make it into a hobby. On top of this, there was the spread of photography as another affordable art hobby. To the bystander 70 years ago, this would've surely signalled the end of the professional artist. The market would surely be saturated to the point that nobody could make a decent living as an artist any more.

Quite the contrary. Today the artist can flourish. Opportunities are everywhere...graphic arts, movies, photography like our own Benjikan, traditional media masters, painters with a twist like Kinkead. Museums, art shows, magazines, and exhibits are everywhere. Are there still "starving artists"? Of course...but 100 years back there were more because there was less opportunity.

Why is this so? New technology breeds new opportunity; not only in existing markets by making pro's even better, it opens up entirely new markets not even dreamed about before it's introduction. These new opportunities allow more folks to make a living using it...more jobs or even just more income from a part time job. Spread this over all areas of an economy and you have economic growth.

The result? More money in the economy means more normal people can buy art....that means more demand. With the increase in artists, there will inevitably be more products on the market to satisfy that demand. But most of these new artists are not "masters". Therefore, they will not get much money for their products. That's fine, as many of us normal people don't necessarily care to buy a $10,000 oil painting, but we can afford a $100 one. 100 years ago, we wouldn't buy anything at all, so in reality, the new technology opened up a new market.

The markets may change. The products may change. But the professional artists will still be there to satisfy the need for top-of-the-line product and there will still be demand for them....more so, because there is a flood in the market of bad products making the good ones stand out even more. Besides, there will always be something about a professionally composed photograph that inspires us to hang it over the mantel...something most of us can never create no matter how much money we spend on equipment.