Recession Proof Photography
A new way to invest
Double Negative Dispatch Issue #50
A lot of talk of economic troubles coming, and of course, as usual, artists and small business owners bear the brunt of a shrinking economy. I’ve talked with people who are in favor of some of the policies causing instability, and people who are against it. I tend to be the most skeptical of the “in favor of” crowd partially due to the somewhat tone deaf line that keeps getting repeated: “I’m willing to feel some pain for benefit later down the line.”
Those who claim to be willing to “feel pain”, are usually in a pretty stable place financially. The ones I’ve talked to are usually pretty well-invested and diversified, have cash reserves, and a stable job that pays a decent salary.
None of these apply to me.
No one forced me to follow the artist path, and I went in knowing the financial risks that may come. I chose to live a life of an exposed nerve, where I have to look at myself honestly in the mirror every single morning, because if I don’t, this whole thing collapses. I have no buffer between me and total failure other than my ideas and the grace of God.
When I see economic turmoil on the horizon, it’s hard to not feel like I’m closer to the front of the line of those who will feel it.
But much like Michael Scott, if my “company” (or whatever this is) goes under, I’ll just start another one and another and another. I have no shortage of company names.
With prices going up on photography equipment and accessories, there will be further barriers to entry for perspective artists and creators, which will lower the supply of art being made. More art = better. I’m pro whatever economic situation allows for more of the conditions that allowed me to get into this art and photography world in the first place.
And also, I don’t want to work in a factory. And neither do you.
I’ve been in saving mode, these days, so I’ve been trying to travel on a barebones budget. I usually don’t buy souvenirs on trips, because I often feel like the urge to buy something from a place comes out of fear of never being able to go there again. If I really like a place, I often don’t buy anything from there in order to incentivize myself to make it back one day. But also, my photos of a place tend to be souvenirs enough.
That all said, I’ve gotten into the habit of buying postcards wherever I travel.
Buying postcards is a mega-cheap way to invest, in my opinion. So cheap, that I went to a desolate and unsettling roadside attraction recently (I feel like I’ve been carrying a darkness with me since I went there. More on that later.) and they were selling 12 postcards for a $1. Now, that’s exceptionally cheap. Almost shady. I don’t know a printer on earth who could make that happen, but regardless, I was able to take home quite a haul.
As an investment, I’m not talking monetarily necessarily, although some postcards are worth quite a bit of cheddar. But in a world of digital goods and memories, we purchase postcards as evidence of our experiences, and we keep them somewhere for our future progeny to find and enjoy. Maybe a mediocre photo of the NYC skyline is “shrug emoji” now, but in 10 to 20 years, that postcard will be pretty cool, and you’ll be thankful you bought it.
As I’ve talked about before, fine art printing of our own photography is expensive. Not only that, but once you print it, you have to do something with it, and we’re often never quite sure what that is. Maybe we have to mount it to foam core, frame it, hang it, and do archival this or that. Which is why, making our own postcards is a really good way to make cheap prints that are useful. Not that fine art isn’t useful, but the ability for someone to use your art as a communication tool is pretty cool and makes sense to the average person.
I mailed out close to 50 handwritten postcards last month. Some to past clients, new clients, but then also friends and family. Each postcard had my artwork and a simple note on them, and they make the recipients feel good to receive them.
Postcards and stamps have definitely increased in price over the years. We’re talking a 53 cent postcard stamps as opposed to the 1 cent stamps of old. But in a world that is running out of cheap alternatives for tangible goods, 53 cents with a 4x6 print is as recession-proof as we can get for getting our work into actual human hands in 2025.
Speaking of getting postcards into human hands: in celebration of this being the 50th Double Negative Dispatch, I’m dropping a brand new Postcard Pack on my website. This one is more of a variety pack, but it’s a bunch of my favorite photos and memories from 2025 so far. Quantities on this set are pretty limited, so you’ll have to get it quick!
Get the Limited Edition Double Negative 2025 Postcard Pack HERE
The Only Way to Grow As A Photographer
Busy-ness is the ultimate killer of creativity, especially when we're letting life wheel us around instead of being more thoughtful about how we spend our time. Speaking of which, I talk about a photo project I've been noodling on for over a year now, as well as why getting engagement on social media may actually not be a great thing all the time.
Hope you enjoy this episode of the podcast!