Is Your Photography The $50 Assembly Line Product, or the $5,000 Original?

Photo by Timothy Marsee

Have you ever seen the show American Chopper? While I’m not much of a television watcher, I have seen a little of the show here and there. The bikes they make on every show are truly unique, and are more than a motorcycle – they are an experience. When you see a bike that they produce, you know instantly its value. One of a kind body styles. Chrome that sparkles. Every piece of the bike is custom made and hand produced.

Compare that with a starter bike – a Honda or a Yamaha. Those bikes are created by zipping through an assembly line, each piece being manufactured by a process, and finally put together through a process. No one takes pride in creating one finalized product – instead a person simply has a job, and they do their one job in order to create the finished product.

Custom made versus mass produced. Neither is right or wrong; its simply a different perspective.

Now let’s turn it to photography. [Read more…]