Hi, Jens, Technically, you're right. An amateur does something for the love of it. A pro does it for money. Problem is, I think the whole pro/amateur dichotomy has evolved over the years from that position.
Remember Avery Brundige? He was the old fart that used to head the International Olympic Committee in the 60's and 70's (I think). Back then, under his strict guidelines, a professional was someone who had ever made ~any~ money from their sport, even just for an exhibition. That was a pretty important definition, because back then, the Olympics were only for amateurs. Heck, back in the very early days of the Modern Olympics, American Jim Thorpe was stripped of his track and field medals, because it was learned that he had once played semi-pro baseball - a sport that wasn't even in the Olympics at that time! The point of all this (yes, there is a point <g>) is that nowadays, we amateur photograpers don't lose our "amatuer status", just because we sell a few prints here and there. I think, in common English parlance, a professional photographer is one who derives his primary income from photography. An amateur is everyone else. So, an amateur is now one who does something and does not derive their primary income from that activity. Which, of course, begs the question, "what's a pro camera?" I really don't want to get into that here, because this comes up all too often, and leads to real long boring threads (which none-the-less, I invariably feel compelled to contribute to <vbg>) Suffice to say, it's just not as simple as saying, "a camera a pro uses". I have to stop typing now... <g> cheers, frank Jens Bladt wrote: > Hi > What's an amateur! The word means somone who loves photography. Does it for > the joy of it. Hell, he or she might even be a pro too. A pro - on the other > hand - could be someone who does it, because he or she has to - to earn a > living. A pro car is a Mercedes Benz (Taxies in Europe). An amateur car > could be a Porche, a Ferrari, a Mustang or a Corvette and of course - a > Mercedes Benz! > Jens > -- "What a senseless waste of human life" -The Customer in Monty Python's Cheese Shop sketch
