How To Become A Photography Editor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a photography editor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Bradley Shreve

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a photography editor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $23.83 an hour? That's $49,573 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -5% and produce -5,500 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a photography editor?

Bradley Shreve

Editor, Tribal College Journal

Be flexible. An undergraduate degree in history offers a solid liberal arts background, but not a skill set that is finely tuned for most jobs. Think outside the box, and understand that the job you land probably won't be in the history profession.

ScorePhotography EditorUS Average

Salary

3.9

Avg. Salary $49,573

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate -5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.27%

Asian 7.12%

Black or African American 3.53%

Hispanic or Latino 7.97%

Unknown 4.57%

White 76.55%

Gender

female 56.99%

male 43.01%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.3

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a photography editor

Explore photography editor education requirements

Most common photography editor degrees

Bachelor's

78.0 %

Associate

8.5 %

High School Diploma

7.0 %

Start to develop specific photography editor skills

Skills	Percentages
Adobe Photoshop	50.41%
Photo Shoots	4.70%
Adobe Indesign	4.40%
Adobe Lightroom	4.38%
DSLR	3.78%

Complete relevant photography editor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New photography editors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a photography editor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real photography editor resumes.

Research photography editor duties and responsibilities

Videotape and edit various productions, author DVD, transfer film to videotape, help manage equipment
Manage international man-made fiber market research/publishing company and supervise editorial content and sales of industry statistical journal.
Edit and upload images to company Facebook page.
Increase online traffic by creating motion and still graphics for Facebook, YouTube, and Vimeo sites.

Prepare your photography editor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your photography editor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a photography editor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable photography editor resume templates

Build a professional photography editor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your photography editor resume.