Editorial photography took a significant hit during COVID and has been slower to recover than its advertising sibling. This is partly due to the famed “democratisation of photography” with work spread over a wider range of photographers and especially so in fashion and documentary photography, where discovering new talent has become a trend. The report, State of Photography 2022, by Tara Pixley, Martin Smith-Rodden, David Campbell, and Adrian Hadland, found that 55% of respondents globally were supplementing their income with something other than photography and more than half indicating that they now carry a “great deal” to a “moderate” amount of debt. Female photographers have been especially affected. Close to a third reported a significant loss of income. 80% of the photographers who participated in the survey have been in the business for more than five years; more than a quarter having worked in photography for more than twenty years. 50.2% earned less than US$40,000 a year (after tax); just under 30% earned less than US$20,000 per year.
A curious year
New York photographer Michael David Adams commented: “In my experience, COVID took such a major hit on the editorial market and photography in general that many people have left the business and others are still working towards rebuilding. So many magazines have folded over the years and social media has also done a great deal of
