2024 10 12
What does the porn industry tell us about the current state of commercial photography? Well, quite a lot it turns out! Oftentimes while editing photos, I’ll play youtube videos in the background to keep me entertained. Former commercial photogrpaher turned youtuber Mark Laita (trend alert!) runs a channel called Soft White Underbelly where he interviews a steady stream of interesting and flawed people on the fringes of American society. This particular episode was a good one, in which a male porn actor talked with Mark about his career in adult film.
The part that got me thinking was how, when he talked about the industry currently being in a state of change and decline, it was remarkably relatable to the industry I participate in. Sure, we may have somewhat less sexually transmitted diseases in commercial photography, but the general sense that everything has changed rapidly and definitively is there. In Alex Jett’s career, the rise of OnlyFans has allowed porn to go from the actor straight to consumer, thus cutting out all of the middle men. There’s no longer a need for production companies and distribution companies, which has made porn cheaper and more plentiful as anyone brave enough to bare it all on the internet can now do so from the comfort of their own home and without the need of anyone else even being involved.
production company > actor > distribution company > store > viewer
actor > tech company > viewer
This is when I started to think about commercial photography. Massive systems and businesses have been in place for decades to help companies manage their marketing and advertising. If a company wanted content of any form made, sure, they could do it themselves but usually it’s far easier and far more effective to outsource the process and let professionals execute it for them. This is where I come in! Clayton Hauck, at your service, ready and able to drop everything and help you produce high quality photos and videos to help you move your companies image forward! You want me to cancel my vacation to shoot an ad campaign for you? No problem! You need me to travel across the country to photograph farms in Wisconsin or furniture stores in Utah? Sounds great! I’ll do it all. For money, of course. That is the catch. The money part.
As content creation (whether it’s porn or not) has become remarkably easy for anyone to do (do well, is another debate), the entire industry which has grown up in support of it is now struggling to stay afloat. A business needs some photos made so they hire an ad agency, who then goes out and hires a production company, who then goes out and finds a photographer, through their agent, to make the work. There are a lot of layers and steps, some of which are good and some of which wasteful and unnecessary, but they are all there for a reason. The problem is nobody wants to pay for any of the middlemen any more when it’s so easy to make images, good ones even, yourself or through your cousin who works at a law firm but likes to make photos and will happily do it for free because it takes her mind away from looking at legal documents all day long.
company needing content > ad agency > production company > photo agent > photographer
company needing content > content creator or hobbyist
Everyone is a photographer now. Those of us who try to use photography as a way to make a living will continue to have a much harder time doing so. Companies want quick, easy, and cheap. It’s hard to blame them, it’s literally the point of a corporation to maximize profits. I lost two projects this month because we are more expensive than whoever else was hired to do the jobs. I’m up for another project but they are asking me to cut my rate by half of what I’d normally charge. On the flip side, I also was hired for a job recently because the client was burned from this approach and the images they tried to get made cheap turned out to be garbage. This is why I still have a job, however, it’s only going to continue to become harder to make a good living through taking photos, as companies continue to try to figure out ways to remove the layers of support which they no longer deem necessary.
It’s probably time I finally start that youtube channel I’ve been meaning to start! I’m not giving up that easy, though. We’re planning on producing a bunch of high end spec projects this winter, while things are slow. I’m still oddly confident that the best of the best image creators will forever be in high demand and companies will continue to advertise as long as we have a functioning economy. The ability to make a living through making images, while increasingly difficult, is still an honor and joy and worth fighting for. Plus, I don’t have what it takes to make it on OnlyFans so I’m kind of stuck.
-Clayton
It's all business. Chicago, Illinois. August, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
What does the porn industry tell us about the current state of commercial photography? Well, quite a lot it turns out! Oftentimes while editing photos, I’ll play youtube videos in the background to keep me entertained. Former commercial photogrpaher turned youtuber Mark Laita (trend alert!) runs a channel called Soft White Underbelly where he interviews a steady stream of interesting and flawed people on the fringes of American society. This particular episode was a good one, in which a male porn actor talked with Mark about his career in adult film.
The part that got me thinking was how, when he talked about the industry currently being in a state of change and decline, it was remarkably relatable to the industry I participate in. Sure, we may have somewhat less sexually transmitted diseases in commercial photography, but the general sense that everything has changed rapidly and definitively is there. In Alex Jett’s career, the rise of OnlyFans has allowed porn to go from the actor straight to consumer, thus cutting out all of the middle men. There’s no longer a need for production companies and distribution companies, which has made porn cheaper and more plentiful as anyone brave enough to bare it all on the internet can now do so from the comfort of their own home and without the need of anyone else even being involved.
production company > actor > distribution company > store > viewer
actor > tech company > viewer
This is when I started to think about commercial photography. Massive systems and businesses have been in place for decades to help companies manage their marketing and advertising. If a company wanted content of any form made, sure, they could do it themselves but usually it’s far easier and far more effective to outsource the process and let professionals execute it for them. This is where I come in! Clayton Hauck, at your service, ready and able to drop everything and help you produce high quality photos and videos to help you move your companies image forward! You want me to cancel my vacation to shoot an ad campaign for you? No problem! You need me to travel across the country to photograph farms in Wisconsin or furniture stores in Utah? Sounds great! I’ll do it all. For money, of course. That is the catch. The money part. (seriously, though, hire me!)
As content creation (whether it’s porn or not) has become remarkably easy for anyone to do (do well, is another debate), the entire industry which has grown up in support of it is now struggling to stay afloat. A business needs some photos made so they hire an ad agency, who then goes out and hires a production company, who then goes out and finds a photographer, through their agent, to make the work. There are a lot of layers and steps, some of which are good and some of which wasteful and unnecessary, but they are all there for a reason. The problem is nobody wants to pay for any of the middlemen any more when it’s so easy to make images, good ones even, yourself or through your cousin who works at a law firm but likes to make photos and will happily do it for free because it takes her mind away from looking at legal documents all day long.
company needing content > ad agency > production company > photo agent > photographer
company needing content > content creator or hobbyist
Everyone is a photographer now (thanks, iPhone). Those of us who try to use photography as a way to make a living will continue to have a much harder time doing so. Companies want quick, easy, and cheap. It’s hard to blame them, it’s literally the point of a corporation to maximize profits. I lost two projects this month because we are more expensive than whoever else was hired to do the jobs. I’m up for another project but they are asking me to cut my rate by half of what I’d normally charge. On the flip side, I also was hired for a job recently because the client was burned from this approach and the images they tried to get made cheap turned out to be garbage. This is why I still have a job, however, it’s only going to continue to become harder to make a good living through taking photos, as companies continue to try to figure out ways to remove the layers of support which they no longer deem necessary.
It’s probably time I finally start that youtube channel I’ve been meaning to start!
I’m not giving up that easy, though. We’re planning on producing a bunch of high end spec projects this winter, while things are slow. I’m still oddly confident that the best of the best image creators will forever be in high demand and companies will continue to advertise as long as we have a functioning economy. The ability to make a living through making images, while increasingly difficult, is still an honor and joy and worth fighting for. Plus, I don’t have what it takes to make it on OnlyFans so I’m kind of stuck.
-Clayton