I happen to know quite a few professional photographers, and yes, like their reputation which precedes them, most of them are not exactly the type any parents want their daughter to be near within a 100 mile radiance.
But without doubt, all the photographers I know have one thing in common, they have a sharp eye for beauty, although mostly commercialized beauty. They know what kind of photos people want to see and they produce them accordingly.
But beauty should be 100% subjective. The only professional photographer I know who seems to have a unique angle of his own is an acquaintance of mine on Facebook, not really my friend. But his pics are somehow different and actually reveal a lot about him.
That's another thing many photographers have in common. They mistakenly believe they can safely hide behind their lenses. But in fact their pics give away much more than they realize or would like to admit.
So if they are unfortunately empty-headed, well sorry their pics are also as generic and boring as chewing gum. But if they really have got something interesting to say, then you can always find the message in the pics. In other words, their photos reflect their inner selves, without them even knowing it.
Although many of them are geniuses technically and equipped with the latest and largest cameras, I believe a good photographer should be able to use any camera to tell the story, to describe the view in his mind, to present the world as the way he sees it, and to make people feel what he thinks.
It's true a pic is worth a thousand words, but only if it's a good one!
