How Much Do You Make – Milan Based Fashion and Lifestyle Photographer

A male Fashion and Lifestyle Photographer based in Milan, Italy, with 20 years of experience.

100k pre covid

130k during covid

I’m repped by a small agency and have been full time for 13 years.

During covid Italian companies needed to remain local rather than shooting in NY or London which increased sales by 30%.

I shoot a lot of ecom at 350-500 per day, then mid tier social media work which goes for 1500-3000 a day plus usage which is usually about 100% of the day fee for 1 year.

I get about 3 large agency gigs a year the last of which was a cellphone company doing a single city ooh campaign and that was 5000 plus 3000 usage for the one city. 

I have a studio which I rent out to cover its costs but apart from that and a few leasing deals for cameras and computers, I have no other fixed costs… I charge rental for all my personal gear and will often retouch editorial or small commercial jobs myself. 

Since December 2022 work has dropped sharply due to markets opening up again and a deep sense of instability due to inflation and war and whatnot… everybody in Milan is in a holding pattern except for the very big boys or the very cheap boys

I do video but it’s more of an extra, I would say less than 10 percent of my income but it’s a big growth market that if I got my finger out my bum and did some proper tests i could probably increase that. The big issue is that volume clients like ecom take up so much time when things are cooking that working on new business becomes difficult. Photographers aren’t supposed to work every day… hahahahah.

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If you want to participate in this column email me: rob@aphotoeditor.com 

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