The professional photographers' market - Italy

1.1 Definition and presentation

Professional photographers are individuals who take photographs for the purpose of marketing them. The market for professional photographers is characterized by a wide variety of players on both the supply and demand sides. Indeed, professional photographers are distinguished by their legal status and the nature of their activity, but they generally operate in different market segments.

In particular, they can be distinguished as follows:

• Photographers-authors
• The employees/freelancers of the press and news agencies
• The self-employed-entrepreneurs
• The artisans
• The employees of the state or local authorities

Likewise, there are many clients, which explains the diversity of activities of professional photographers who are rarely limited to one market segment. Major segments include corporate communications, direct sales to individuals, public clients, publishers, news agencies, galleries, and art dealers.

However, the market for professional photographers can be divided into three main categories:

• News photography, for newspapers and magazines.
• Art photography, for exhibitions and art galleries.
• Commissioned photography, for commercial use (advertising, events, weddings, etc.).

The global professional photography market has grown in recent years, and is expected to continue to grow at a rate of 7.4 percent through 2026. Some of the main market drivers are the increasing penetration of smartphones and the growing interest in photography. Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing region due to the 'high purchasing potential of the population and increasing demand in emerging countries.

In Italy, the market is stationary, with a constant value but a decrease in volume, thus indicating a shift to quality. In addition, the average price of cameras increased by 8 percent in 2018 compared to the previous year, a factor that did not favor the market. However, market players are favored by the sustained growth of the Web, digital tools, and the growth of e-commerce, which was worth about one-third of the entire market in 2018.

The national market is highly fragmented, with many players operating primarily at the local level. Professional photographers are facing new challenges due to the democratization of photography, but they are also focusing on new growth areas, such as art photography, and new technologies, such as mirrorless cameras, which have experienced strong double-digit growth in recent years.