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Photography has changed dramatically since this particular article was written in 1940. As someone who had a darkroom and developed his own film and made his own prints (both black-and-white and color), it was a wonderful hobby, something I thought might become my vocation--but it didn't. We'll not talk about the leak which just developed in my darkroom and cost quite a bit to repair. Considering I haven't been in the darkroom for years--digital cameras replaced all the chemicals and the mess--it was strange to be back in that room again.
Gregg Speed Building, One-Year Course, Gregg Publishing Company, 1940, p 549-550
Camera Crafts
Armed with a fast-action lens, an expensive camera, light meters, and photographic equipment, the modern photographer is a streamlined version of the old-time artist.
Today he is turning to his profit a great public interest in photography. Picture magazines have won a large place in the publishing business and advertisers are also turning to photographic illustrations. As a result, photography has rallied remarkably from depressing lows.
Today, a photographer is faced with the necessity of specializing in one or two of several kinds of photography. There are portrait photographers, commercial photographers who take assignments from business firms in the same way that a freelance artist does, news photography, and movie photographers.
Commercial and advertising photographers are very important fields now. Almost all forms of scientific photography are rising rapidly. Color photography is coming into prominence for use in motion pictures, advertising, and magazine illustrations; but an expert is required in this branch of the work. Experts can often earn money by contributing photographs to magazines devoted to skilled photography or news pictures.
There are many kinds of workmen employed in a photographic studio. The cameraman takes the picture. He is responsible for the composition, backgrounds, lighting, lens, and other details. In the larger studies, the less important work may be turned over to an assistant. The developer “fixes” (makes permanent) the image on the film and works in a darkroom (a room from which all daylight has been excluded). After development, the negative goes to the retoucher who eliminates the defects with ink, pencil, or other means. The negative is transferred from the retoucher to the printer who does an entire developing job again on a sensitized paper. In some studios, the job of developer and printer may be assigned to one man. The finisher takes the positive or print from the printer and dries, mounts, and prepares it for the purpose for which it was intended.
To be a successful photographer, technical skill is necessary. Some of this may be acquired by amateur work. Generally, it can be obtained by apprenticeship by working in a studio as a beginning or by attending training school.—Vocational Trends
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