I’ve been a live music photographer for many years. I started by making contacts and getting into a few small shows. It began to snowball a bit once I got going and it led to more shows and eventually, I was shooting some pretty big names, even some heroes that I grew up listening to.
The pandemic happened and changed the world. During the lockdown period when music wasn’t happening, it gave me time to reflect and rethink my perspective. I was using mainly one camera body at the time that was getting a lot of clicks on it. I was literally using my camera up for a job that pays nothing. That’s right, none of the outlets I know of in my area pay a cent. Do others want my work? They sure do, but no one thinks they have to pay for it.
Since we have gone back to having shows, I have found that I just don’t have the interest like I did. I no longer want to spend so much time away from home. It costs me to produce my work and it is a skill that not everyone possesses so I feel I should be compensated for it. Photography has been devalued over time because of the flooding of cameras to the masses and there are now lineups of people who think it’s so cool to see their images used by outlets or bands, they will happily give them away for free.
Steve Earle
