Why Every Photographer Needs to Learn About NFTs
NFTs or Non-fungible tokens have shaken up the world of art. NFTs help more artists and creators across the world to monetize their creativity. How does it do this? By using blockchain technology to create 24/7 global markets for everything. This was something never possible before. Welcome to the future of the internet.
Photographers find themselves in a unique, suited spot in this new world of NFTs. The internet made distributing pictures and any form of media in general, very easy. Right-click, copy, paste! Many creators saw that most of the socio-economic power would go to media aggregators. This model benefits a minority of the best creators, instead of all the creators out there. In the beginning, this felt fair. Since all creators needed to build up their talent and then find their due. But, even the best creators realized that they were surrendering control to algorithms. They treated art as a commodity instead of respecting their cultural value. Collectors and buyers want to reward creators not aggregators.
Blockchain technology and NFTs promise to give photographers and other creators their due. How? We explain in the below sections of this post.
Why should photographers use NFTs?
As a photographer, every story and every picture collection means something to you. Photographers capture unique moments of society, and in both personal and professional lives. Likewise, NFTs capture digital moments of society, with each having its own community. As an independent photographer, NFTs help you own your work. Unless, of course you sign an agreement that says your work belongs to someone else. That’s what a day job is. Others monetize your creations instead of yourself. But you, the photographer lose control over your creation forever.
With NFTs and blockchain, photographers became their own photography company.
What is Blockchain Technology for a Photographer?
Every photograph that you take goes from your camera to a centralized company’s database. This is the structure of the current business model. Your creations belong to someone else to monetize because you are not an owner of your work. An ‘authority’ is in charge of aggregating many works from photographers like yourself. They then ‘decide’ where and how to use them.
With blockchain technology, you mark the fact that you’re the owner of a photograph. Likewise, anyone who wishes to use it will pay you a fee or even buy it from you outright. Blockchain technology turns your creation into an asset. An asset that yields you an income whenever someone uses it in any way. This is not possible in the way the current internet ecosystem operates. Which is on traditional, centralized databases. Web3 is the third evolutionary phase of the internet with blockchain as the underlying technology.
NFT Photography is the future
It may seem as if NFTs are still in an early phase. That is true because it is early. Every new technology takes time to adopt itself to the mainstream. A few months or even years pass before it becomes a standard way of doing things. For example, think of Kodak’s physical cameras and their supremacy. But, social media companies beat them in the digital game. Internet companies realized that smartphones made everyone a photographer in their own way.
Likewise, NFTs have only begun. Photographers have a lot of time to learn what they want. So, understand the dynamics of the market and use blockchain technology. And what they mean for the long-term trend of the market. Currently, a majority of the world is still doing things the old way. What is the old way? It is to hire photographers for assignments or use photographs from aggregators. Where individual photographers have to give up their creations for pennies. There is a better way to run the business.
But, the future of photography will be different. Photographers now have a new way to monetize their talents. Photographers can use NFTs to become owners of their work.
Why NFTs Change the Photography Market
Every blockchain and NFT enthusiast imagines that everything is on the blockchain. Tracking and monetizing become easy for any asset, physical and digital. That too without needing to rely on intermediaries who don’t add any value to the ecosystem. Likewise, imagine every photographer in the world, amateur or professional. They have stories to sell and collections to create. He or she can out their work on the blockchain as NFTs. This will create a worldwide photography market. Anyone with an internet connection can buy and sell photographs.
The original photographer tracks all future uses of his or her photograph. This is a revolution for all photographers and original creators and artists. It is fair for all of us. In a world where conflicts arise daily, we can trust code. Let us trust the blockchain to keep track of the world. There need not be any cause for conflicts like the way we see today.
How Photographers Can Navigate This New World
Photographers have plenty of options to begin their NFT journey. Apart from the fact that you are confident about your talents as a photographer, you can reach out to NFT marketplaces. For instance, NFTically will help you get started within a few minutes. Their community would love to help you find an audience.
The whole blockchain, cryptocurrency, and NFT markets are full of talented photographers. Every new member of the community understands the complexities of the space.