“School Photo” Not enough school photographers!? Ask the people involved

``If things continue like this, the day may come when we won't be able to secure photographers.'' These

are the words of a company that has been producing school photos of school events for many years.

Currently, the environment surrounding photographers who take pictures of school events is difficult, and a shortage of photographers is becoming an issue.

What will happen to the “graduation album”?

School photographer discussion online

People who photograph school events such as graduation ceremonies, entrance ceremonies, school trips, and sports days are also called "school photo photographers," and many of them contract with schools to photograph children inside and outside of school throughout the year.

Taking photos for graduation albums is also part of the job of school photo photographers, and they may also be responsible for editing and production.

This month, a debate arose on the internet regarding this school photo photographer.

Concerns were voiced about the post that solicited many photographers on social media.

``Can we confirm the identity of the photographer?'' `

`Can we ensure the safety of children through this recruitment?'' `

`We cannot rule out misuse of the photographic data.''

In addition, comments were posted about the increasingly difficult environment surrounding this industry, such as the difficult work of school photo photographers and the lack of human resources, which sparked discussion.

It's been more than 10 years since I graduated from school, but even I (reporter) remember being indebted to a school photographer when I was a child.

What is the current situation surrounding the profession? We decided to listen to the voices of those involved.

There are also photo shops in town where the number of photographers is decreasing...

Kazutaka Kojima, who runs a company in Nagoya that has been producing school photos for more than half a century, is a veteran in this field for more than 30 years.

On the day I visited for the interview, there was a photo shoot of the closing ceremony.

“Even though we are recruiting, there is no doubt that it is harder to attract photographers than before.”

He talked about the current situation surrounding school photo photographers.

One of the reasons there are fewer photographers is said to be the spread of digital cameras and smartphones with cameras.

Now that anyone can easily take photos, many of the photo shops in town have disappeared.

A particularly large factor is the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Due to the coronavirus pandemic, a number of people, mainly bridal photographers, have gone out of business.We have four in-house photographers, and we are not currently in a situation where there is a labor shortage, but if the current situation continues, someday we will be able to shoot I feel that there is a non-zero possibility that we will run out of photographers to rely on."

"The reward is not commensurate with the effort"

“It was just so hard

,” says a freelance woman who used to work in school photography.

He says that photographing the children was a lot of trouble.

For example, at a sports day, it is necessary to take pictures of each child's facial expressions for each program, and a photo in which the child's eyes are closed is considered a mistake and cannot be delivered.

When I get home, I have thousands of pieces of data waiting to be sorted out.

Photography equipment will be provided at your own expense.

Even so, the compensation was so low at around 12,000 yen per session that it was sometimes not worth it.

``I felt that the amount of time I was required to work and the amount of work I received were not commensurate with the compensation.I didn't feel rewarded...I was asked to take a large number of photos while the children were moving around, so it was difficult to get great photos. After about a year, I started turning down jobs. It was difficult to find anything worthwhile."

Regarding remuneration, there has been discussion within the industry for over 10 years, but no progress has been made.

The reason for this is that public schools sometimes select contractors through bidding, and some point out that this can lead to mutual underpricing.

The strong demand for preserving the image of children “survives through differentiation”

On the other hand, through interviews, many people said that there is a deep-rooted demand for jobs that leave behind children.

As teachers' work style reform progresses, the need for full-time photographers is increasing in some places.

Graduation albums are one of them.

Mr. Kojima's company, which handles school photos, carefully stores the graduation albums he has created.

(Mr. Kojima)

``I think there are many people who have grown up and shown their albums to each other and felt nostalgic for the past.When disaster strikes, some people work hard to find their graduation albums.Graduation I believe that albums have universal value."

As the environment surrounding photographers becomes increasingly harsh, Kojima says, ``If we don't differentiate ourselves, we won't survive.''

“The most rewarding moment is when I receive voices of gratitude from children and their parents.In order to continue this work, we are also introducing a facial recognition system that uses AI. In this age of photography, we want to do what only we can do and receive a fair compensation."

These problems will not be resolved immediately, but through our interviews we felt that we, as users, also need to pay attention to the current situation of those who are responsible for them.