Industry News
According to a newly-released survey from Zenfolio, the photo industry is still struggling to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic after being hit hard last year. More than three quarters of all photographers saw a decline in business during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Zenfolio survey results show, while 78 percent saw a decline of at least 20 percent. Sixty three percent of photographers saw a larger 40 percent decline.
The survey found that wedding photographers were the most affected by the pandemic. That’s not unexpected, considering CDC guidelines on crowds and mandatory government limits on gatherings. Heading into 2021, wedding photographers are still reporting the largest impact.
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Photographers that arguably work with the fewest number of people—landscape and fine-art photographers—were the least impacted, the Zenfolio survey suggests. Zenfolio says that half of the photographers in those categories are now reporting that they are doing well or better than expected. Zenfolio also said that landscape photographers were the most optimistic out of all the photographers surveyed.
As the vaccine rollout continues, half of the photographers surveyed are still expecting a slower than average year for 2021. Those respondents said that they expect the slow down to continue for at least a year.
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But, are some photographers starting to see that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel? One third said they are optimistic about their businesses between now and the start of the summer. That’s more than the number of photographers who still expect continued decline. Zenfolio says that a quarter of the photographers surveyed expected business to decline further.
Of course the pandemic’s effects are hardly exclusive to the photography industry. A study published by Forbes last summer found that small businesses that applied for the Paycheck Protection Program saw a 52 percent decrease in revenue. Sixty percent of those businesses closed down for at least a portion of the year. The same study showed LLCs were the hardest hit, with revenue declines of 90 percent.
Snapshot of Zenfolio Survey Results
- 63% of photographers saw a 40% decline in 2020 due to COVID-19
- Almost 78% saw a decline of at least 20%
- Wedding photographers were hardest hit in 2020.
- Landscape & fine-art photographers were least impacted.
- 68% of photographers are still seeing their business as slower than expected in 2021
- So far in 2021, wedding photographers are seeing the most slowness.
- Half of landscape & fine-art photographers are doing as well or better than expected.
- One-third of photographers are optimistic about business between now and June 2021
- One-quarter expect their business to continue to decline
- So far in 2021, wedding photographers are still seeing the most slowness.
- Half of landscape & fine-art photographers are doing as well or better than expected.
- 50% of photographers expect it to take at least a year for business to return to normal
- Wedding photographers expect it to take the longest for business to return to normal
- Landscape photographers are the most optimistic about their future business