Hobbies (IWTH)

"IWTH" (remember it as "with" with the first two letters swapped) stands for an "I-want-to hobby." These are things you absolutely don't have to do, but you do because, well, you want to.

Xander on the wall

Of course, most hobbies are IWTHs to some extent. My nephew makes knives. My son climbs artificial cliffs at indoor climbing gyms. Another friend is a semi-professional stained-glass artist. If you don't have a market for knives or stained glass and don't make any money doing what you do, there's no reason to do any of those things...except the best reason, which is that you want to. Recently, as you know, I looked into shaving as a hobby, and being your own barber with old-fashioned razors is definitely something you only do if you want to. Every pharmacy in the land carries a selection of electric razors and multi-blade cartridge razors and foam shaving cream in cans. That's what everyone uses. It's the standard. Being your own barber, using shaving soaps and restored mid-century razors, owning many samples of everything and using them in rotation, and all that? Well, it's pointless, but why not? If you want to do it, there's the reason. It's its own reason.

Photography is an IWTH only for some people. It also falls under the category of CBAPs..."could be a profession." (I'm just having fun with these initialisms here, by the way. Don't take it too seriously.)

There are all kinds of specialties you can get into as a photography professional. I'll name just a few—real people, who I know or know of—to give you an idea of the range: an aerial photographer who pilots his own small plane; a "stringer" (independent photojournalist who gets irregular assignments from publications); wedding, food, fashion, boudoir, headshot and real-estate photographer / architectural photographers; and I know of photographers who specialize in each of the following, maybe in among a few other things: racehorse conformation portraits; portraits of sailboats for the boats' owners; and motorcycle racing. That's just the tip of the iceberg. All the way down to people who have YouTube channels or, um, write blogs. There are also degrees of professionalism: they can go all the way from very successful businesses with very high income ceilings—photographers like Annie Leibovitz (a name I always misspell, so that's probably misspelled) and Morgan Norman have net worths in the millions—to people who only occasionally do a job for pay or sell a few prints on weekends at community art fairs. 

But for most of us, photography is an IWTH. And in that case, you do whatever you want to, for whatever reason you choose.

Some hobbies fall into the category of "you have to do it anyway." Shaving, cooking, driving, your clothing, and so forth. You can make a hobby of any of those things—but for most people they're not hobbies, just chores or necessities. Some hobbies revolve around a nominal "vice," as is the case with wine, whiskey, or cigar aficionados. I knew a guy once who worked at a garden center whose hobby, with his wife, was to eat one meal every month at a very fine restaurant. They would save up for it and drive as far as 200 miles away for the monthly gourmet treat. Many hobbies revolve around some kind of gear connoisseurship: watches or laundry machines (really) or fly-fishing can be that way. Some photographers are primarily devoted to a single marque or brand of camera, for example. And we all know which one.  :-)  Some hobbies are pastimes: movie-watching, reading, or video-gaming. I know a family that does large, difficult jigsaw puzzles together at their summer cottage, a pastime hobby that's traditional for them. The puzzle stays on a table on the porch for days or even weeks and people work on it when they feel like it, individually or together. When it's finished they admire it for a few days then start on another. They really enjoy it. 

Many hobbies center on collecting. One of the most amazing things I've ever seen was Mark Noyzewski's basement, fastidiously and beautifully organized but absolutely stuffed to the rafters with comic books, toys, posters, and pop-culture merch, with a special interest in everything Star Wars. (By the way, the difference between a hoarder and a collector is organization. If it's organized, you're not a hoarder.) Another was the apartment of Arnold Crane, a retired divorce attorney and lifelong photographer who collected many thousands of art objects of all sorts and whose spacious high-rise apartment on the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago was like an intimate museum. (I edited Arnold's book for him.) There are several ways that a photography interest can be centered around collecting: you can collect cameras, prints, or books, to name just three. And come to think of it, isn't the activity of photographing itself sort of a form of collecting? You go about the world taking pictures of things, every now and then getting something you like, and those go into your "selects" in some way—added to the "collection." When I first met Ctein, he was a dye transfer printer, and his principle of collecting, in this sense, was that when he got a good shot he liked, he would make a 16x20" dye of it—a very involved process, as you might know—and it would go into the master portfolio. After half a lifetime of hard work he wasn't yet up to 100 prints at that time. That's not exactly "collecting," but it's not far off.

Status
I would guess that hobbies tend to have more status the more rare or difficult or risky they are, and the fewer the number of people who have achieved some sort of mastery in that area. Chainsaw sculptors, sailboat racers, polyglots (people who speak many languages—are any of you out there?), and sleight-of-hand magicians are examples of things that few people master. But scrapbooking, walking or hiking, currency collecting, and board games are hobbies that have a low bar to participation, at least at the entry or beginning level.

Maybe what's been happening to photography in the last two decades or so is that it's become something that far more people can do satisfactorily without specialized knowledge or experience, so its status is starting to decline. You no longer need years of experience and involved knowledge to take a beautiful picture or even make a beautiful print (just pay for it). I've said before that saying "I'm a photographer" these days is inching ever closer to saying, "oh, I'm a person who eats meals," or "I'm a person who breathes air." Who isn't a photographer these days? But when you get into the weeds, of course, and get obsessive about it, it's still a great IWTH.

Hobbies can be purpose-driven. Maybe your purpose is to find good side-hustles and make extra money. Maybe you love beer and want to learn to make craft beers to participate in tastings or just give as gifts to your friends. Maybe you have a life-list of something—states you've visited, bands you've seen live, birds you've "watched." Photography can be great for purpose-driven goals: you can collect destinations, for instance, photographing in Iceland and Prague and Death Valley, in which case you organize your travel experiences around it; or you can use it for meeting people; or for the documentation of an intersecting interest, as train photographers do. Jim Lager, whose purpose was to be a Leica expert, decided early on to collect pictures of Leicas rather than Leicas! As you know if you know his wonderful three-volume set of books. Life lists are possible in the photography hobby too...I've always thought it would be interesting to see how many sites of famous photographs you could visit! The Flatiron building, the Mission Church of Rancho de Taos, and Canyon de Chelly might be my first stops. Jamie Livingston took an SX-70 photo every day for decades; a British photographer I know of had it as his goal to take at least one decent photo with as many vintage cameras as he could.

There is one last category of hobby that few people think about: those that are the most deeply satisfying. Yoga, gardening, baking, and ballroom dancing are all hobbies that tend to rank high on the satisfaction index (I read an analysis once that claimed gardening is No. 1, although you couldn't prove it by me). One way to think of the central challenge of being a photography enthusiast in the IWTH category is figuring out how to make it as satisfying as possible for you personally.

All good
I've been working for photography enthusiasts since 1984, when I got a senior internship as a teaching assistant at Northern Virginia Community College. I'd already become the unofficial darkroom manager at the art school I attended. My loyalty throughout my career has been to photographers. Their interests come first. That was certainly true when I was a magazine editor—I conceived of my loyalty being not first and foremost to my employer, the publisher, nor to the manufacturers who advertised in the magazine, but to the readers first of all. It was the proper, principled structure of the job, just as a lawyer is supposed to give her all to the interests of her client within the boundaries of the rules. "The business side" and "the editorial side" were supposed to be separate but equal. So I butted heads with the advertising director a lot. So my attitude has always been that however anyone wants to find interest and satisfaction in photography is fine with me as long as they're not hurting anybody. The range is truly breathtaking, so much so that it seems almost perverse when you look at it altogether.

And young photographers today are extending that range greatly with internet and social media activities and concerns. It's all good!

Mike

Original contents copyright 2023 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)

Featured Comments from:

TwoShoes: "Although I've never commented before I feel strangely compelled now to add my two bobs' worth. I've long believed that all worthwhile hobbies should occupy vast amounts of your time, require the investment (ha!) of much of your disposable income and perform no other purpose than to delight the hobbyist. Ideally, they should also involve the research and acquisition of expensive arcane gear along the way which ticks several of the previous points. If the hobby does have a practical purpose, e.g., coffee, it should be performed on an eye-wateringly expensive machine that makes your friends think you are deranged. To which you reply, 'It's not just a drink it's hobby.' All understood."

Mike replies: Many times I've thought that my life has revolved around hobbies. And thinking of them as hobbies definitely takes a lot of the pressure off. Great comment; you should contribute your two bobs' worth more often!

Mark: "Very good shot of your son. Handsome lad. Surprised they allow that without a safety harness. As for hobbies, when I gave up my camera gear some years back and now only use my iPhone, I was a bit adrift. I built a garage gym during the pandemic that I’m in 2–3 times per day. But about six months ago I got my CCW [stands for "carrying a concealed weapon" —Ed.] and have been purchasing firearms and taking at least a class a month, sometimes more, and am at the range practicing twice a week. Not sure if you consider it a hobby but it sure is interesting, challenging, and keeps me busy. May even be lifesaving one day."

Mike replies: I should have mentioned this in the post: the picture shows Xander on a bouldering wall, which are on average three meters (15 feet) high. And only your outstretched hand has to go to the very top of the wall. There are thick pads below in case you fall, and for when you jump down. Xander will complete a route, touch the top, climb down a few feet and then jump off. I don't think ropes are even allowed on bouldering walls; I should ask him. It's definitely possible to get hurt on a bouldering wall, but much less likely if you have experience. Xander has a good sense of self-preservation and uses ropes on higher walls, and good practices in all sorts of climbing.

David Brown (partial comment): "I always thought it ruined the hobby to try and make money from it."

JH (partial comment): "When it comes to photography as a hobby, it often combines with other hobbies. [...] If any hobby crosses over into other hobbies more than photography, I can't imagine what it could be."

[Ed. note: You can read the full text of "partial comments" in the full Comments Section.]

Aaron: "Maybe a difference between most people who take photos (which is pretty much everyone with a cell-phone now days) and photographers is that most people don't engage with photography as a practice. By practice I mean taking photographs as an intentional long-term project or set of projects. This includes practice in the sense of doing it a lot to try and get better. But more to the point it's investing time and attention in the craft and art of taking photos. My two daughters probably take more pictures than I do. But, they have no interest in learning about taking pictures, either the technical side or the art/composition side. They have no interest in their pictures as pictures or as art. That's not a criticism. It's just a difference between them and me. I'm a photographer (in this sense) and they're not."

Mike replies: In fairness to your daughters, aren't they still very young? (Note to others: Aaron and I met over Indian food in Peoria, Illinois, when I went out to the Midwest to meet my grandson.) Maybe their seriousness will deepen when they get older. The most talented student I ever had could not have been less ambitious about photography—she was very breezy and dismissive of it as a high school student. I was never in touch with her again, but I understand she later became a professional photographer! I was very pleased to hear that. She really did have a remarkable eye.

Comments

[Mike Chisholm]

Racehorse confirmation portraits? I had no idea horses were religious! Or should that be "conformation"? I'd never heard of either type before, TBH, so pre-prepared to eat, um, hay.

Mike

[KeithB]

I know you weren't trying for an exhaustive list, but I would like to add at least two:

The general Maker phenomenon, as exemplified by SparkFun: https://www.sparkfun.com/

and collecting calculators like on this forum:
https://www.hpmuseum.org/forum/index.php

[Robert Roaldi]

The idea of taking the same photo periodically, e.g., every day, was an unexpected plot twist in the 1995 movie Smoke with Harvey Keitel and William Hurt. The photography sidebar was a poignant moment in a very good film.

[Jeff]

From Sept 26th..
“Mike replies: APS-H would have made a great long-term standard size. If we knew then what we know now. It's 3:4, too.”

Still wrong.

[Fixed now...finally. Thanks for keeping after me about this.

What happens is that I make changes on posts, but I'll often have the post open in several different tabs. So I'll publish the corrected or expanded version, which is as it should be. Then I'll inadvertently go to the wrong tab to make another correction, and publish that version, thus wiping away the corrections, additions, or Featured Comments I already thought I added.

I try not to let this happen, and I have several safeguards in place to prevent it, but it still does happen sometimes. I depend on the kindness of sharp-eyed readers like you to help me out. --Mike]

[JH]

When it comes to photography as a hobby, it often combines with other hobbies. When I was racing sports cars (one of many car related hobbies), I knew a few guys who attended races shooting photos of the racers and selling prints to participants and magazines - one made it his primary business. I shot thousands of photos in the 60s and early 70s, scanned them, posted om my website in the late 90s and then gave the originals to the Watkins Glen racing library. All told I've contributed to more than a dozen books and many magazines.
I know photographers who shoot all kinds of events they are interested in - outdoors/hiking/climbing/surfing/sailing, etc. - often selling some work. How about the astrophotography enthusiasts who do beautiful photos and discover comets occasionally?
I've been very active in documenting visits to architectural sites like Frank Lloyd Wright sites and art we see in visiting galleries, two of our favorite interests.
Then there is travel photography, probably the biggest number of participants, perhaps only following documenting the family.
In all these cases, the primary purpose might be documentation but it's generally done with an artistic sense.
If any hobby crosses over into other hobbies more than photography, I can't imagine what it could be.

[Will Duquette]

IWTH is right. Got an OM-1! It’s possible I’d be happy taking iPhone pictures, but if I have my glasses on I can’t focus on the screen, and if I don’t I can’t see the subject. OM-1’s got a nice big EVF, so I can actually compose on purpose. Makes me happy.

[Mark]

You hit the nail on the head Mike, or maybe multiple nails. Now that I’m a couple years into retirement, I no longer identify as a city planner, or even a retired city planner; instead I’m a retired guy who takes photographs, goes on bike rides, bakes sourdough bread, and digs for clams. I had non-work interests — hobbies if you will — during my working years, but lacked the time to pursue them to my heart’s content. More time translates into more miles on the bike, more rolls of film through the camera, and lots of hours in the darkroom. Bread-making and clam digging are self-limiting by how much bread we can eat, and the tide tables. Hobbies involving the collection of things have limited appeal to me, with the possible exception of my own prints. By the way, my daughter climbs walls in climbing gyms. I like the picture of Xander— did you take it?

[Yes. iPhone 13, my "colors camera." --Mike]

[Robert Mann]

Hi Mike,
It’s funny that you mention the Flatiron as a famous photo location. My wife and I traveled to New York last year and I tried to get a photo of the Flatiron from Steichen’s point of view. (That’s one of my favorite photos from that era) I got close to where he stood but that intersection has become so cluttered, it’s not really worth showing the pic to anybody. (Of course the wonderful branch sweeping into his shot is long gone and the carriage has been replaced with giant busses) It was a fun, noisy experience.

Best Regards,
Robert Mann

[Herman Krieger]

Bicycling mixed with photography-

https://members.efn.org/~hkrieger/photobike.mpg

[Richard John Tugwell]

I have four hobbies that dovetail nicely ...

Buying food, cooking, eating and photography

(Not quite in that order(

[David Brown]

I started “serious” photography in high school (in the late 60s). I consider myself an amateur in the classic sense of the word. I do it because I want to. At times, I have received money for doing things photographic; I put myself through college doing weddings, for instance. (Never again!) I always thought it ruined the hobby to try and make money from it.

[David Dyer-Bennet]

I think my first paid photo work was in 9th grade, probably. Never ever made any significant portion of my income from it; probably never showed a profit (at least over a 3-year period; sometimes 1 year might show a small net profit on photography, but the adjacent years tended to then show much bigger losses). But am currently selling my first photo book and prints from the project.

And—taking the slideshow software with the working "interaction box" (where people standing by the TV watching the show can push buttons to somewhat control the show, bring up more info on the slide, go forwards and backwards, things like that) to an SF convention for the very first time this weekend. And assembled 15 new slideshows for this use.

Photography combines really well with other hobbies; travel and science fiction fandom for me, I guess. But also just life; my prosthetic visual memory.

Being "the photographer" in a social group is in some ways a lot like being the official event photographer (weddings, or whatever, which I have done relatively few times). Quite often the best photos of the event do not come from the official photographer, but they (have to) get reliably good photos of all the key sub-events.

[Arg]

“…the difference between a hoarder and a collector is organization. If it's organized, you're not a hoarder.” Great insight, I’ll remember that, but I would add another level: value. If it’s organised but largely junk in terms of tradeworthiness, you’re still a hoarder. Hence the term “it’s a collectible” is almost synonymous with higher market value. Collectors collect collectibles. Heh.

[I have to diasgree. No one knows what is collectible. Consider the George Thomason collection of English Civil War pamphlets. It's considered now to be among the greated collections of primary materials in English history, but it was nearly a hundred years before it was finally sold to the British Museum--for a bargain basement price! And, search "Trough of No Value" on this website. No one knows now what the future will value. --Mike]

[Terry Letton]

The world doesn’t need any more acronyms, especially ones that only 4 people in the world can remember what they mean. After reading the entire post and the comments I had to go back to the top to refresh my memory as to its exact meaning. Rant over hobby is a perfectly fine word.
I agree that the act of monetizing a hobby turns it into a much different experience. I ruined one hobby, wood working and finishing, by turning it into a business so I have worked hard to keep photography from turning into a business. Very successful I might add. My photography has developed several side hobbies/collections, some physical like old film cameras and some photographic.

[Luke]

I am often quite happy with the photos I get. I enjoy the hobby.

But as soon as someone wants to BUY one, suddenly they are not good enough for me! This spoils the hobby.

[Terry Letton]

Yes no one knows what the future will value and what it won’t

[David Dyer-Bennet]

From what I've seen, "It's a collectible" is synonymous with no resale market. "Collectible" is a marketing designation for things produced recently in large quantities, which strongly discourages high prices.