Photography Is a Luxury: AI Is for People Who Can’t Afford It

Photographers and videographers should probably be concerned about the scary "boogeymachine" that is AI. It's very likely that in the next decade, many photo and video jobs will be replaced by AI, and this will inevitably change the photo and video industry.

In 1969, Japanese watch manufacturer Seiko introduced the first-ever commercially available quartz watch, the Seiko Quartz Astron. Over the next two decades, the Swiss watch industry was decimated by the influx of cheaper quartz watches. The whole mechanical watch industry was essentially put on life support, with around 1,000 Swiss watch brands going out of business.

Interestingly, the quartz crisis was only considered a crisis in Switzerland; outside the country, it was called the quartz revolution. Most people celebrated this technological advancement because it brought many conveniences. For instance, quartz watches were more accurate than mechanical watches and could run for years without needing a battery change, whereas mechanical watches typically run out of power after around 40 hours.

These sentiments may feel familiar to photographers, as many industries are celebrating advancements in AI. AI technology is democratizing creativity and providing numerous conveniences. As the technology improves, it’s easy to imagine many industries adopting AI features over current conventional methods.

However, the watch industry managed to stave off a complete collapse by focusing on two key areas: the high-end luxury market and the budget market. Swiss watch manufacturers emphasized how mechanical watches were heirlooms, something to pass down from generation to generation. As a luxury item, these watches transcended their practical purpose, making them immune to criticisms related to performance.

For example, Rolex, a brand now synonymous with luxury, wasn’t always considered as such. One could argue that the quartz crisis pushed Rolex to reposition itself as a luxury brand by focusing on producing high-quality watches.

As watch brands leaned into luxury, the perception of quartz watches shifted from being a revolution to being seen as an addition. Many brands even avoided producing quartz watches altogether. Most notably, Seiko, the pioneer of quartz technology, has since minimized its production of quartz watches and focuses primarily on mechanical watches.

Moving towards luxury helped the watch industry take the focus off performance. It no longer mattered that quartz watches could be produced faster, cheaper, and performed better at keeping time. Mechanical watches represented craftsmanship and the art of horology.

What Is Luxury?

To precisely determine what makes something a luxury can be challenging; however, there are guidelines. In 2001, three academics, Bernard Dubois, Gilles Laurent, and Sandor Czeller published a paper describing six key characteristics of how luxury is perceived by consumers. 

• Quality: High craftsmanship and durability are often synonymous with luxury.
• Price: Luxury is closely associated with high costs, viewed as both a barrier and a marker of exclusivity.
• Scarcity and Uniqueness: Luxury goods are perceived as rare and exclusive, often tied to personal customization.
• Aesthetic and Sensory Appeal: Strong emphasis on beauty, hedonic pleasure, and multi-sensory experiences.
• Heritage and History: Luxury items often have a narrative tied to tradition and time, enhancing their value.
• Superfluousness: Seen as non-essential but providing symbolic and emotional benefits.

These are not laws by any means and can be fluid; however, these guidelines have been essential in helping many brands and consumers understand luxury. For the most part, luxury is consumer-driven and steeped in emotion. And these are generally contradicting emotions between attraction and moral or practical reservations.

Luxury goods are things we don’t need to survive, but we want because they make us feel good or carry a special meaning. The fact that they are non-essential is what sets luxury apart from everything else. On one hand, it’s admired for its high quality and exclusivity. On the other hand, some criticize it for being out of reach or question if it’s really worth the price. This push and pull between admiration and skepticism is what makes our relationship with luxury so complex.

Take any luxury product or service, and you will almost always have naysayers discussing value for money or how garishly excessive it is. Yet this is inherently valuable and beneficial to the luxury market. Ultimately, there is no logic in why anyone would want to purchase a luxury service or product; instead, it is an emotional reaction.

Photography Is a Luxury

As AI continues to develop and become more sophisticated, there will be fewer reasons to hire photographers. There’s no need to spend hours in a studio and then wait days after the shoot for results when AI can produce something in mere seconds. With just a few clicks on your computer, you could generate a series of portrait photos ready to use across all your profiles.

Need a new LinkedIn profile picture? No problem—simply update the description to match your needs, and off you go. These days, hiring a photographer is becoming less necessary, and this trend will only intensify as AI technology continues to advance.

However, this lack of necessity and non-essential nature of photography will actually enhance the industry's luxury appeal. Photography is a craft that requires years of skill and experience to create something meaningful. While anyone can pick up a camera and press the shutter button, it takes real dedication and hard work over many years to become a good photographer, let alone an expert.

This also explains why photography is expensive. Generally, the more experienced a photographer is, the higher the cost of their services. Photographers quickly learn to avoid budget clients and focus on delivering high-quality service instead of competing on price. Over time, they build the confidence to turn down projects that don’t align with their value, which is a key aspect of how luxury works.

Experience and quality in photography are also incredibly rare. While it’s true that anyone can call themselves a photographer, how many are trusted to work on large, high-end projects? This is where the scarcity of skill and expertise comes into play. Luxury is defined by rarity, and truly exceptional photography as a service is exceedingly rare.

Finally, photography has an inherent ability to impact people through its aesthetic and sensory appeal. A beautiful photograph can move someone just as deeply as any other form of art. Moreover, photography has a rich history, dating back nearly 200 years to the first photograph taken in 1826. In this sense, photography aligns perfectly with all six characteristics of what makes something a luxury.

Final Thoughts

Photographers shouldn’t worry too much about how accessible AI is or how good it’s going to get. Sure, AI will replace some jobs, but photography is a luxury, and there’s no replacement for what it offers. AI can’t replicate the craftsmanship, the emotion, or the years of experience it takes to create something special.

In fact, the more popular AI becomes, the more valuable photography will be. As more people turn to AI or budget options, the work of a skilled photographer becomes rarer and even more desired.

You can either focus on the budget market, where AI might struggle to fully take over, or go all in on being a luxury brand. That means improving your skills, charging a lot more, and producing work that moves people on an emotional level.

The more saturated the market gets with AI and low-cost solutions, the more unique and valuable real photography becomes. It’s not about competing with AI; it’s about doing what AI can’t. Whether you stick with affordable work or aim for the high-end, photography will always have a place, and its value as a craft will only grow.