Photo: Pexels / Publication: 2024-12-03
Example calculations for freelance rates
Social Finance Matters (SFM), in collaboration with the Photography chain table, presents four ‘Example Calculations 2025: Freelance Rates for Professional Photography for Cultural Institutions.‘ These are based on a median income and the salary of a higher professional education (HBO) starter after 1.5 years, the most common education level among professional photographers. For comparison, the minimum wage and twice the median income are also included. These represent starting rates. This ensures that additional factors that may influence the rate, such as the type of assignment, years of experience, etc., are excluded. However, these factors can play a role in negotiations between the client and the contractor.
Focusing on billability
A unique aspect of the professional photography sector is the relatively low number of hours that are billable annually. This means that the so-called freelance markup per hour in the rates must be higher than average. This was already known through sources such as KNAB and DuPho. The reasons for this are now substantiated by SFM and the chain table in ‘Focusing on billability: An exploration of paid and unpaid hours of professional photographers in the cultural sector.‘ from November 2024. These reasons include: the nature of assignments, market conditions, available budget and budgeting systems at cultural institutions, and the negotiating position of photographers. This exploration was created following a previous survey report, ‘A Sharper Picture: Uncompensated activities of photographers,’ from April 2024, and is based on subsequent in-depth interviews.
More chain table publications
In April 2024, the chain table released the report ‘The Value of Professional Photography.’ A publication containing background information and current affairs regarding ‘Copyright’ will be released soon. This will be followed by a publication on ‘Pricing,’ covering the phases of the process and practical case studies within professional photography. Additionally, further communication from the chain table will follow starting in 2025.
More information
FairPACCT Photography chain table (read more under the heading ‘news’ or ‘about the table’)
