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Boston Career Explorer

Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media

Photographers

Photograph people, landscapes, merchandise, or other subjects. May use lighting equipment to enhance a subject's appearance. May use editing software to produce finished images and prints. Includes commercial and industrial photographers, scientific photographers, and photojournalists.

Also called: Advertising Photographer, Commercial Photographer, Graduation Photographer, Newspaper Photographer, Photo Editor, Photographer

Median pay in Greater Boston
$55,020
$26.45/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
670
Massachusetts 2024–2034
−2.0%
270 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
High school diploma or equivalent
plus Moderate-term on-the-job training

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$36,870$42,480$55,020$98,500$119,600

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Adjust apertures, shutter speeds, and camera focus according to a combination of factors, such as lighting, field depth, subject motion, film type, and film speed.
  • Create artificial light, using flashes and reflectors.
  • Determine desired images and picture composition, selecting and adjusting subjects, equipment, and lighting to achieve desired effects.
  • Transfer photographs to computers for editing, archiving, and electronic transmission.
  • Use traditional or digital cameras, along with a variety of equipment, such as tripods, filters, and flash attachments.
  • Manipulate and enhance scanned or digital images to create desired effects, using computers and specialized software.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Moderate exposure39 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 43
  • Language-model AIOE 35
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 38

Observed AI use today: Substantial (Anthropic Economic Index)

Photographers have a moderate level of AI exposure, and AI use in this field is already substantial. AI tools can help with editing, sorting, and sending images, and they can generate some images, which may take work from some photographers. Setting up lights, choosing camera settings, and working with people and places in person still rely on the photographer. Massachusetts is projected to lose about 2% of these jobs by 2034.

Likely to change

  • Editing and retouching finished photos
  • Transferring and organizing images on computers

Still relies on people

  • Setting up lighting and subjects on location
  • Choosing the shot and composition

What federal projections say

“Capital/labor substitution - share decreases as more images are generated by artificial intelligence (AI) tools, substituting for some photographers.”
BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, factors affecting this job (U.S.)

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

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Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

20 programs near Boston (plus 4 graduate)

Related occupations

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