Amateur photography reaches a substantial minority of adults, but participation depends on the definition used. U.S. surveys distinguish taking photographs for artistic purposes from broader creative activity, while Australian measures often combine photography, filmmaking, and editing. The figures below keep those differences visible and identify each measurement period.
Contents
- U.S. participation levels and recent trends
- Age, generation, and gender patterns
- Frequency, editing, and learning
- Sharing amateur photography online
- Geographic differences
- Australian participation and paid involvement
- Earlier benchmarks
U.S. participation levels and recent trends
The National Endowment for the Arts’ Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA) estimated that 13.8% of U.S. adults took photographs as an artistic activity in 2017. The measurement covered the previous 12 months. In the 2022 SPPA, covering July 2021 to July 2022, the estimate was 13.3%.Arts Participation Patterns in 2022
The same report describes the change as 0.5 percentage points lower in 2022 than in 2017. Its rate-of-change measure puts the 2022 rate 4% below 2017. These are two ways of expressing the same comparison: the percentage-point change compares rates directly, while the rate-of-change measure expresses the difference relative to the earlier rate.
The 2020 U.S. Arts Basic Survey estimated that 10.4% of adults took photographs for artistic purposes from February 2019 through February 2020. The 2022 SPPA estimate was therefore 2.9 percentage points higher than the 2020 Arts Basic Survey estimate, or 28% higher on the SPPA report’s rate-of-change measure.The 2020 Arts Basic Survey
These comparisons should be read with the survey periods and instruments in mind. The 2017 and 2022 figures come from the SPPA, whereas the 2020 figure comes from the Arts Basic Survey. They show a low point in the supplied sequence during the February 2019–February 2020 measurement period and a higher estimate for July 2021–July 2022, but they do not establish a single uninterrupted annual trend.
An earlier Arts Basic Survey measure was broader. From February 2017 through February 2018, 11.7% of U.S. adults produced films, videos, and photographs as an artistic activity. That combined measure represented an estimated 29.2 million adults.Creating, Practicing, and Performing Art in the U.S.
For comparison, the 2020 Arts Basic Survey estimated 25.6 million adults took photographs for artistic purposes. Because the activity definitions differ, these counts should not be treated as a direct increase or decrease in the number of amateur photographers.
| U.S. measure | Period | Participation estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Took photographs as an artistic activity | 2017 | 13.8% |
| Took photographs for artistic purposes | February 2019–February 2020 | 10.4% |
| Took photographs as an artistic activity | July 2021–July 2022 | 13.3% |
| Produced films, videos, and photographs | February 2017–February 2018 | 11.7% |
Age, generation, and gender patterns
The 2020 Arts Basic Survey placed the median age of U.S. adults who took photographs for artistic purposes at 41. Adults aged 25–34 had a participation rate of 13.3% during February 2019–February 2020.The 2020 Arts Basic Survey
The 2017 SPPA shows a clear generational gradient in reported photography. Generation Z adults had a 24.2% rate of taking photographs, followed by Millennials at 16.1%, Generation X at 14.2%, Baby Boomers at 11.5%, and the Silent Generation at 8.2%. These figures describe generation-specific rates in 2017, not the behavior of those generations at every age or in later years.U.S. Patterns of Arts Participation
Editing followed the same ordering in the supplied 2017 estimates. Generation Z reported an 18.3% editing rate, compared with 11.8% for Millennials, 10.5% for Generation X, 8.0% for Baby Boomers, and 5.2% for the Silent Generation. The gap between taking and editing was present for every listed generation.
Gender differences were narrower but still visible in the 2020 Arts Basic Survey. The rate for U.S. women taking photographs for artistic purposes was 11.2%, while the rate for U.S. men was 9.5%. Both figures refer to February 2019–February 2020 and use the survey’s artistic-purpose definition.The 2020 Arts Basic Survey
The 2012 SPPA adds socioeconomic and age context. Among U.S. adults who engaged in photography that year, more than one-third were younger than 35, and 12% were age 65 or older. Nearly one-quarter of adults with graduate education took photographs for artistic purposes. More than one-fifth of adults from families earning at least $150,000 did so.A Decade of Arts Engagement
Frequency, editing, and learning
Participation is not only about whether someone took a photograph during a reference year. Among U.S. adults who took photographs as an artistic activity in 2017, 45.2% did so at least once a week. This frequency figure is calculated among participants, rather than among all U.S. adults.U.S. Patterns of Arts Participation
Editing was also a recurring activity for many participants. Among U.S. adults who edited photographs as an artistic activity in 2017, 38.5% edited at least once a week. The figure is lower than the weekly rate for taking photographs, but it still indicates that editing was a regular practice for a substantial share of editors.
Formal learning reached a much smaller share of the adult population. In 2017, 1.6% of U.S. adults took a class in photography or filmmaking during the previous 12 months. This measure includes filmmaking as well as photography, so it is not a photography-only class rate.
The figures suggest three distinct layers of participation: occasional artistic photography, recurring photography among people who participate, and structured learning. The supplied statistics quantify each layer separately; they do not show how many people belonged to all three groups.
Sharing amateur photography online
Online sharing was common among English photography participants in the 2017–18 Taking Part Survey. Among English adults who had taken part in photography as an artistic activity, 71.9% uploaded photos they produced to the internet.Taking Part Survey: October 2017 to September 2018
The 2018/19 England adult report used a related but not identical group: adults with internet access who had taken photos in the previous 12 months. In that group, 69.8% created and uploaded photos.Taking Part Survey: England — Adult Report 2018/19
The two English estimates are close, but their denominators differ. One is among people who took part in photography as an artistic activity; the other is among internet-connected adults who had taken photos. They should therefore be compared as related indicators, not as a precise year-over-year series.
U.S. figures provide a broader sharing context. In the 2012 SPPA, 27% of U.S. adults who created, recorded, or remixed photographs shared them using a computer, handheld or mobile device, or the internet. In the 2017 SPPA, 48% of U.S. visual-art creators used the internet to share their art; that broader category included photography.A Decade of Arts Engagement; U.S. Patterns of Arts Participation
Geographic differences
State-level U.S. estimates from the 2020 Arts Basic Survey varied between the supplied examples. Washington adults had an 18.9% rate of taking photographs for artistic purposes, while Vermont adults had a 14.6% rate. Both figures cover February 2019–February 2020.Washington State-Level Arts Participation Profile; Vermont State-Level Arts Participation Profile
The difference between those two state estimates is 4.3 percentage points. It is a comparison of the two reported state rates, not a national ranking or a causal explanation for why the rates differ.
Australian state profiles provide a separate, older comparison. In 2010–11, New South Wales residents had a 6% participation rate for photography, filmmaking, or editing, excluding personal events. Western Australia and Queensland each had a 5% rate under the same broad activity definition.New South Wales Arts and Culture Profile; Western Australia Arts and Culture Profile; Queensland Arts and Culture Profile
Australian participation and paid involvement
Australian national data also combines photography with filmmaking or editing in several measures. In 2010–11, Australia had an estimated 798.2 thousand participants in photography, filmmaking, or editing, excluding personal events. Of these, 122.0 thousand had some paid participation, while 676.2 thousand reported unpaid participation only.Arts and Culture in Australia: A Statistical Overview, 2014
Some paid participation was reported by 15.3% of Australian participants in that combined activity group. An estimated 107.6 thousand participants had a relevant qualification, and an estimated 690.6 thousand had no relevant qualification. The qualification categories describe the 2010–11 participant population and do not indicate whether qualification caused paid work.
The 2017–18 Australian participation data reports gender-specific percentages among cultural-activity participants age 15 and over. Photography or filmmaking was reported by 22.64% of male cultural-activity participants and 12.19% of female cultural-activity participants. These are combined photography-or-filmmaking measures, not photography-only rates.Participation in Selected Cultural Activities, 2017–18
Earlier benchmarks
The 2012 U.S. SPPA estimated that 12% of adults took photographs for artistic purposes. It also estimated that about 2% of adults edited photographs.A Decade of Arts Engagement
That earlier benchmark sits below the 13.8% U.S. photography estimate for 2017 and below the 13.3% estimate for July 2021–July 2022, but the surrounding survey years and measures are not identical. The 2012 report’s editing estimate also should not be treated as directly interchangeable with the 2017 generation-specific editing rates.
Taken together, the available measurements show amateur photography as a recurring creative activity with marked differences by age, geography, and survey definition. The most consistent interpretation is comparative: participation rates describe specific populations and periods, while combined categories, changing denominators, and separate survey instruments limit direct trend claims.