ABSTRACT
In 1839, when photography was first introduced to the public, all that was required to be a photographer was the ability to follow directions and ownership of a camera. The perfect likeness captured was new and magical, nothing like it had come before, and-it can be argued-that nothing since has had the same overnight popularity and integration. Today, the prevalence of photography is so omnipresent that it is almost impossible to imagine a life without it. Child to grandparent, nearly everybody has a camera, and if you can talk on the phone, you can take a picture. So then, what does it take to qualify as a photographer nowadays? Technically speaking, the definition hasn’t changed: A photographer is a person who takes photographs. Under this definition there are an immense number of photographers in the world; in fact one doesn’t even need to know how to read or be capable of advanced thought to be able to take a photograph. Yet in this large group, there are serious photographers who desire more than a thoughtless capture from their cell phones or fully automatic cameras. This much smaller group of photographers can be further divided by three approaches.
