Financial Situation

Many Turkish photographers will tell you right away they do not make any money. The only exceptions can be found in fashion and advertising photography. Many depend on galleries and magazines in order to exhibit, publish and sell their work. One common way that functions especially for emerging photographers is that the galleries give the location and are in charge of the promotion of the exhibition, the photographer himself/ herself takes charge of print expenses, the gallery takes a commission from the sales, gives the rest to the photographer who in turn covers his/her expenses. Even when established photographers exhibit their work at museums and galleries, photographers generally do not receive any exhibition fee. Some finance their work by working in advertisement, for fashion magazines, or product photography, which in turn helps them to network, promote their name and can in the end facilitate the sales of their artistic work. A newly emerging concept is that there are intermediaries who consult collectors in their photography purchases. We are yet to see how this will affect the financial situation of photographs. As a summary, the financial resources, number of buyers and ways to earn an income out of photography are scarce.

The salary of a photographer in important national newspapers is around 1200 Euros. But the newspapers hire very few professionals, they prefer to use free labor like internships. The salaries for the big news agencies are significantly higher.

It surely depends on the products’ quality but a renowned photographer is approximately paid 1000-1500 Euros per day, a newly graduated photographer’s fee can begin at 250 Euros per day.