The majority of photographers I interview are between 45 and 55, and they possess a depth that younger photographers do not. Yes, there’s something wonderful about the raw energy of the younger photographers I meet. It’s just that this energy might fizzle out.

If it doesn’t fizzle out, something very special happens. As photographers continue to work through their decades, they push themselves to embrace new technologies, to redefine their business models in evolving markets, and to take on new creative challenges, even if their clients don’t demand it.

We always say that learning photography is really learning to see, and this is true. But we tend to express this sentiment in relation to a very limited sense of seeing — the visual sense. Older photographers seem to continue to learn to see on a much deeper level, in terms of what it is to be a working artist and, most important, how this relates to their continual growth and satisfaction as an individual.

I share this thought because once again I find myself thinking of something Stewart Cohen told me when I interviewed him for “In Search of Identity” for Rangefinder. I closed the article with this memorable sentiment:

“I’m 49 and I haven’t done anything else except photography since 1983. I was once like any other typical 30-year-old, hotshot photographer — having exploded onto the scene, thinking I had made it. My Identity project has helped me see that, in the arc of my career as an artist, my true style is only just beginning to come out.”

Older photographers seem, almost inevitably, both wiser and more creative and yet also more humble. Like Cohen, they seem to look to the future with more excitement. They are less concerned with the fleeting satisfaction of the external rewards of money or recognition. More than anything, they seem to want to open new doors that will help them continue to develop their sense of vision.

Tags: Age Versus Youth, Commercial Photography, In Search of Identity, Portrait Photography, Stewart Cohen, The Value of Experience