Is Commercial Photography Dying?

May 6, 2024 | 0 comments

In 2019, my husband and I opened our commercial photography studio in Tampa, FL. As immigrants from the Philippines, we didn’t have any connections in the industry. We hustled day and night shooting photos for cheap just to get our name out. Our work paid off that we managed to meet a creative director from a New York-based agency. We developed a really good relationship with them. Even though the pay was way below commercial photography standards, the steady stream of projects they provided helped us save to sign a lease on a more professional studio. The brands we worked with through them helped us establish our name in the industry.

Just as we opened our studio, the pandemic happened. We were trapped in a non-working studio and a lease we couldn’t afford. We were practically living off our remaining savings and my salary as marketing manager at the time. Thankfully, America reopened in June, causing an outpour of projects. We didn’t stop working until New Year’s Eve.

2021 and 2022 were even better years, marking our highest revenue to date. The next year, however, we were totally blindsided. Many of our clients had to cut their budgets so suddenly which left us scratching our heads. We thought it was just going to be temporary, but now that we’re almost halfway through 2024 things just seem even bleaker. And it looks like the same can be said for many commercial photographers in the country.

If you follow aPhotoEditor on Instagram, you will see several commercial photographers sharing their 2023 revenues. Be warned, it’s utterly depressing. Many contributors have reported their incomes slashed in half. In our case, it was below than that. They say it’s due to inflation and high interest rates. Others say it’s because of AI.

If it’s the latter, we may be in it for a longer haul. In its latest statement, the Fed has decided to hold it’s high interest rates for a while, with Wall Street experts predicting it won’t change until Q1 2025. I don’t even have a minute interest in finance yet here I am talking like I understand it. All I know is, since the interest hikes, everything but our studio revenue has increased. It’s impossible to maintain at this point.

Is it because of AI? I doubt it, at least for now. It is still in its early stages. Until AI is able to generate the right amount of fingers in the right places, I’m not worried about it.

So is commercial photography dying? Let’s discuss.