Learn about the types of people who become photographers. This page goes into detail about the employment, gender, and ethnic ratios of the workplace.
Employment Type Mix, 2022
27% of photographers work in full-time roles while 73% work part-time.
Gender Mix By Career Interest, 2022
This graph shows the distribution of females and males that are interested in becoming a photographer. Four or five star ratings on CareerExplorer indicate interest.
More women than men are interested in becoming photographers at a ratio of 1.21 to 1.
Actual Gender Mix, 2022
65% of photographers are female and 35% are male.
Gender Bias, 2022
This is one of the most compelling statistics we collect. Gender bias shows the difference between gender interest in being a photographer and the actual gender mix of people in the career.
If there is a significant difference, then it means there is a gender imbalance between those interested in becoming a photographer and those who end up becoming one.
In this case there are more men interested in becoming a photographer than those actually working as one. It is hard to pinpoint the exact reasons why, but there are likely various forces at play, from changing interests over time to societal norms and biases.
Ethnic Mix, 2019
The largest ethnic group of photographers are White, making up 59% of the population. The next highest segments are Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish and Black or African American, making up 10% and 8% respectively.