Opinion: Specialist access isn’t just for professional photographers

Something that often separates professional photographers from amateurs is access. I’m sure most of us have gazed longingly at the photographers’ pit at a music festival or the perfect vantage point near the touchline of a football pitch. Access is more important in some genres than others: sports and music shooters rely on it almost entirely, and it’s a large part of photojournalism and documentary work.

Of course, access plays a role in almost every genre of photography – and it isn’t always about gaining written permission or wearing a lanyard. Portrait photographers work hard to access sitters’ raw emotions, and wildlife shooters spend hours, days, weeks and even months building a rapport with their subjects to gain better access.