Fewer people are engaging with photo content, and many who once pursued it seriously are struggling to maintain the same level of enthusiasm. Economic factors, shifting social media trends, and technological changes all play a role in why photography is in a slump.
Coming to you from Evan Ranft, this insightful video explores why fewer people are actively engaged in photography. One major factor is the rising cost of living. Photography isn’t a cheap hobby. Cameras, lenses, and accessories add up quickly, and when people are struggling to cover necessities, spending money on expensive equipment becomes a low priority. Many who might have been interested in picking up photography simply can’t justify the cost. This isn’t unique to photography—many hobbies that require significant investment see fluctuations in interest depending on economic conditions.
Another issue is time. Even if someone can afford the gear, photography demands a significant time commitment. Unlike hobbies such as reading or fitness, which can be done in short bursts, photography often requires extended periods to plan, shoot, and edit. For many, the time investment isn’t feasible, especially when work and other responsibilities take priority. Social media has also shifted in ways that make photography harder to sustain as a mainstream creative pursuit. Platforms that once prioritized still images now favor video content. Instagram, once a hub for photographers, has pushed reels over traditional posts, making it harder for photographers to gain traction. The time required to create compelling photography-based video content is much greater than simply posting a picture, and many photographers struggle to keep up.
Social media algorithms further complicate the issue. Interest-based algorithms prioritize content based on what keeps users engaged the longest, favoring easily digestible, high-frequency content. Photography doesn’t fit neatly into this model. Unlike tech or fitness content, which can be consistently produced and categorized, photography varies widely—street shots, landscapes, portraits, and conceptual work all fall under the same broad label, making it harder for the algorithm to push it consistently to the right audience.
The introduction of AI has also created uncertainty. While AI isn’t replacing photographers outright, its ability to generate realistic images in seconds has made some question the long-term value of traditional photography. There’s a fear that AI-generated images will become the default for commercial work, limiting opportunities for human photographers. Additionally, smartphones continue to reduce the perceived need for dedicated cameras. While serious photographers know the difference, the average person sees little incentive to invest in a separate camera when their phone already produces high-quality images with minimal effort. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Ranft.
You are right on some of the forces affecting photography today, but I disagree that photography is loosing steam. Perhaps you say that because traditional photographers insist on not counting smartphone photography as real photography, but when you factor that type of photography, the practice of photography is actually booming in the world. Everyone is taking photos out there, but not with the photographic boxes we’ve been doing it with for the past fifty years or more. No, in this 21st Century, it is the smartphone-type of capture mechanism that is in the average person hand, and these average people are indeed taking massive amounts of photos, videos, slo-mo, panoramas, etc. It is an incredible boom to capturing images and sharing them around the world. These new photographers are out snapping photos on the street, in restaurants, in sports events, inside airplanes, at concerts, birthdays, weddings, etc., etc. They are everywhere and they are super active in capturing images. Just today I was out in Washington, DC doing some street photography and saw two other individuals with “traditional” cameras taking photos, but saw legions of young people and everyone else snapping away with their smartphones. It’s really happening, but if the photo communities around the world continue to marginalize smartphone users as not doing real photography, it would be impossible to realize that photography is indeed enjoying a renaissance due to smartphones. And you know what? A lot of it is really good too.