ben morris' website is still up, but it still says "under construction." hopefully, he's busy taking pictures. forget Hirst -- I'll preserve your lamb for $25.

And here I refer you to the Inspiration vs. Imitation debate. Goodnight!

It is always costly to do what you want until you get good enough so that they need you. You wont worry anymore about getting payed, but maybe from having too much work. Then you will learn to choose.

Glad some interesting responses,

You can see my web - agent www.cjustice.com presonal www.benmorrisphotography.co.uk

I think some people are missing the point a bit however...

if you want to be rich,or even comfortable and secure you would be an accountant,not a photographer,its not a lifestyle.re your website theres too much dubious documentary,i dont think fashion and documentary photographers can ever exist in the same body.thats not to say that i cant appreciate a great picture from whatever its just a different animal....and i think your a fashion photographer.

"...fashion and documentary photographers can ever exist in the same body."

now that's an interesting topic.

I read somewhere once that writers can only be either good at writing essays, or good at writing fiction. one or the other.

but does that hold true for photography?

No no no! Before the Juergen Teller "I just nicked these snaps out of my neighbours album" style came along there was a phase where fashion photography was inspired/derived from documentary style (still ongoing if you look actually) - William Klein??

I've mentioned him before elsewhere (to no effect apparently), but what about the much underrated Ferdinando Scianna? For fashion + documentary combined, look him up. It'll be hard work because you have to go to www.magnumphotos.com and register before you can access the archive, but it's worth the effort. Scianna is also famous for documenting the Sicilian mafia.

The photographers at Magnum are all saints though aren't they? 50-odd years of nothing but concerned photography for purely humanitarian causes?? Wrong. They all make the bulk of their livings with corporate and advertising. Big deal!

agreed;re william klein being the only exception..but i think you hit the nail on the head when you talk about "documentary"style and this is were the confusion reigns..documentary is not a style its a SUBJECT...klein had new york,rome,moscow(all published books)for me its about the relationship between the subject and photographer.ive just discovered a wonderfull book -sabine by a 23yr old danish photographer called JACOB AUE SOBOL.its what i call documentary.
its half love story/half hunting ,shooting,and fishing..he goes to greenland for two weeks,and returns to live with a native indian women hes fallen in love with.despite the objections of other local men,hes there for two years before hes had enough and leaves,the book is a wonderfull record of this experience in beautifull black and white..and the pictures are stuning..
thinking about the original posting about life being hard...theres a short story in this book about him being allowed to fish with the other villagers..they trek 2 hours through the snow and ice cut holes in the lake and fish for five hours...all the time in silence because..people dont talk there unless theyre drunk..after 5-hours theres nothing and the man turns to jacob and says "you know sometimes.ITS HARD TO LIVE IN GREENLAND!"

Point taken about documentary being subject - except that's it's also about approach. I mean, it's the story but it's also how you tell it, so style is an important consideration. Or signature, or whatever.

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding here... but I don't think Klein is the only exception, I just forwarded him as the most obvious example of a photographer who has successfully crossed genres, and in so doing helped set a precedent? So now you can have someone like Martin Parr doing fashion shoots in a style that essentially doesn't differ from his documentary stuff. Basically, the point I was trying to make (get there eventually) was that there isn't necessarily a distinct separation between any given photographer's activities. We can try out different things, work in unrelated areas... Hurrah!

this raises another interesting point.can you be mass market and still be fashionable?i say this because martin parr should really open shops.
he has watches,t-shirts,carpets,and lots of wallpaper..twenty years ago he was an outstanding documentary photographer.today hes a global brand......or is he just a style?