Reply To: Whether we like it or not, fauxtogs ARE making money….

[spanghew]

The lady described her photography as being just a hobby, and said that she wasn’t advertising herself as a photographer, so she’s in a whole different category from most of the fauxtographers that end up on this page.

If people are willing to pay her money for her hobby, then I don’t really see much wrong with that.  She’s probably taking better pictures than they would themselves, and she might have excellent people-skills.
Without any proper equipment or knowledge, she’s definitely not in the same league as actual professionals, but the families who she photographs might not even be able to tell the difference.

I’m not sure that smartphones are to blame, though. With any form of art (and wine, food etc.)  there are people who are only satisfied with an excellent product, and people who really don’t mind, so long as they get something which isn’t terrible.  Not everybody demands high levels of artistic expertise in everything they consume, and without a bit of specialist knowledge, a lot of people don’t know even know what constitutes a “good” photograph.

My sister has her children photographed by a friend of hers, and I personally think they’re all atrocious.  It’s all old-fashioned 80’s backgrounds, awkward unrealistic posing,  and weird sepia finishes that sometimes have a selectively coloured bonus level of awfulness.
My sister likes them though, and that’s what really matters.  It’s her children, and her money, and if she was dissatisfied, there are a hundred other photographers that she could go to.
The only time she’s ever complimented a picture of mine, it was an awfully overexposed photo of a friend on the beach, where the background was blown out to being almost pure white.  All my photographer friends (and myself) considered the picture to be a failure, but to her, that was the best one of the bunch.

It used to drive me crazy, but I’ve accepted that not everybody has the same standards that I do.
My girlfriend is a coffee expert, and has the same feeling every time I drink a latte with syrup in it.