What it means to be a photographer

What is it that sets a photographer out from all the other people with cameras and smartphones with a million megapixels and the technology to send a man to the moon in the palm of their hands?

It's an important question, because it's not necessarily about the equipment. A person can have access to lots of money and purchase the latest, hi-tech, super-amazing camera – and related equipment – and produce a photobook that is quickly glanced over and forgotten.

An amateur photographer however, with an average SLR but the heart and soul can take a few snaps and produce a photobook that has the effect of leaving people with open mouths.

"Your first 10,000 photographs are your worse," said the legend that was Henri-Cartier-Bresson. Basically, a whole lot of practice is needed. Sure it's an art, something that some people are "born to do", but as with any talent and any skill, it needs to be practised over and over. This is what we call refinement.

Beyond the practical, perhaps the most defining quality of a photographer is the ability to "see". It sounds like an obvious statement, but what is meant here is that a photographer sees the world in a much nuanced way – he picks up the details that everyone misses and then presents them to us to enjoy.

This ability to see gives viewers a vision of the world they would otherwise miss.

Part of this aptitude for seeing things in a unique way stems from a curious disposition. The photographer asks himself: "That's a gorgeous building in front of me...how can I shoot it?"

A photographer will climb, crawl, bend and lie down to capture a subject in a new and fascinating way. This is down for two reasons – to create something visually unique and to invite deeper engagement.

Ultimately, a photographer is a storyteller: he has to want to do more than just take pictures for himself. Think about how a memory book is often best enjoyed – yes you can pick one up and laugh and cringe at the pictures all by yourself, but such photobooks come alive when enjoyed in the company of others.

That's the spirit a photographer embodies.

This isn't the complete specification of what it takes to be a photographer, but represents one of many more explorations to come. It's an open discussion that could go on forever.

Why not create a personalised photobook at mymemory.com