53110 Photographers

What this occupation covers

Photographers operate still cameras to photograph people, events, scenes, materials, products and other subjects. They are employed by photographic studios, newspapers, magazines, museums and government, or they may be self-employed.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 10 main duties for this code.

• Study requirements of a particular assignment and decide on type of camera, film, lighting and background accessories to be used
• Determine picture composition, make technical adjustments to equipment and photograph subject
• May operate scanners to transfer photographic images to computers
• May operate computers to manipulate photographic images
• May adapt existing photographic images and create new digitized images to be included in multimedia/new media products
• May use delicate instruments, such as optical microscopes attached to cameras
• May process exposed film
• May use airbrush, computer or other techniques to retouch negatives
• Medical photographers may work closely with medical illustrators.
• Photographers may specialize in areas such as portrait photography, commercial photography, scientific photography, forensic photography, medical photography, digitized photography, multimedia photography or photojournalism.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 2 of its 10 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 52110 Film and video camera operators

Excluded from this code

• Film and video camera operators (See 52110 Film and video camera operators)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

aerial photographer · chief photographer · commercial photographer · evidence photographer - forensic · fashion photographer · finish photographer · forensic photographer · industrial photographer · medical photographer · multimedia photographer · multimedia picture illustrator · news photographer · photographer · photography supervisor · photojournalist · photomicrographer · police photographer · portrait photographer · racetrack finish photographer · retoucher - photography · scientific photographer · still photographer · street photographer · wildlife photographer

Employment requirements

• A bachelor's degree in visual arts with specialization in photography or Completion of specialized training in photography in high school, college or specialized training schools or Extensive on-the-job training under the supervision of a photographer is required.
• Experience in, or knowledge of computerized photography or digital imaging may be required.
• Creative and technical ability, as demonstrated by a portfolio of work, are required.