Peter Parker: Photographer

[Vexham28]

The photography worked for Pete, when he was in college, but I'm glad Slott has embraced Pete's love for science, and progressed his adult career.

[Grim Ghost]

Didn't he do crime scene photography already? For about an issue during BND, I think. Got the job through Carlie.

It's funny to see a thread like this. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with him doing photography. Just that when he did do photography for a while during BND, a lot of posters felt he could do better, and that he'd been doing it enough ever since his teenage years. Freelance might pay the bills, but it doesn't exactly help him with benefits and such.

Again I guess I find it odd that so many people seem to look down on a career in photography for Pete. He was one of the top photographers for one of the largest papers in New York city. That is actually kind of a prestigious position. He doesn't need benefits anymore now that he is an Avenger. The only reasons he was generally so poor during this period were:

1. JJJ is cheap as hell and paid him incredibly poorly. Pete stayed out of loyalty to the Bugle. It was established a few times that other papers knew who Pete was and were willing to pay him WAY more.

2. Random Aunt May sicknesses/Mortgage problems, etc... siphoned away a lot of the little $$$ he did have.

3. Random Spider-Man hijinx messing things up for him, but that is going to be an issue no matter what he does.

[Darthfury78]

I think that it was good for Peter to leave his Photographer position for his science career. Although, as a Photographer, Peter could use Dr. Ock's Spider-Bots to take pictures from any vantage point, as well as for them to tell him where the next crime scene would be. He could sells those pictures to the highest bidder. Especially use those talents for espionage.

[Hypestyle]

... Depends. I've said for some time now that Peter should be a science journalist. Especially since he's a PhD. now, he's expected to be "published" on a recurring basis, especially if he's not teaching. Handled realistically, it would take him outside of New York City for certain assignments to cover various stories of interest (and of course there are those folks who stridently feel that NYC is a co-character in Spider-Man.) Of course, such a career also implies a certain level of financial backing from an employer and/or relative financial stability (e.g., if he's freelance, paying for his own plane tickets/hotel, etc.) And of course there is the philosophy where he has to be kept near-bankruptcy constantly to be relatable. Which, for a man of his age is increasingly depressing, thematically.

[Mister Mets]

Photography makes sense as a way to get Peter Parker somewhere Spider-Man is needed. But it doesn't really have anything to do with his interest in science, and it's a rather volatile profession, which may be why both JMS and Slott have tried getting him into other fields.

[weezer17]

Photography makes sense as a way to get Peter Parker somewhere Spider-Man is needed. But it doesn't really have anything to do with his interest in scientist, and it's a rather volatile profession, which may be why both JMS and Slott have tried getting him into other fields.

This is solid analysis! I especially loved JMS making Peter a teacher; I thought that was a fantastic creative decision that opened a lot of cool doors.

[Mister Mets]

... Depends. I've said for some time now that Peter should be a science journalist. Especially since he's a PhD. now, he's expected to be "published" on a recurring basis, especially if he's not teaching. Handled realistically, it would take him outside of New York City for certain assignments to cover various stories of interest (and of course there are those folks who stridently feel that NYC is a co-character in Spider-Man.) Of course, such a career also implies a certain level of financial backing from an employer and/or relative financial stability (e.g., if he's freelance, paying for his own plane tickets/hotel, etc.) And of course there is the philosophy where he has to be kept near-bankruptcy constantly to be relatable. Which, for a man of his age is increasingly depressing, thematically.

That could be an interesting route. Although it might defy credibility to suddenly reveal that he has a new talent, as science journalism requires writing ability.

[Pako]

The ongoing problem feels like any kind of job there requires a time commitment and deadlines is going to fire Peter for running off into Spider-Man.

[Pav]

And of course there is the philosophy where he has to be kept near-bankruptcy constantly to be relatable. Which, for a man of his age is increasingly depressing, thematically.

Yet probably a more realistic / relevant part of his "status quo" now than it has been in decades.

-Pav, who is a poor millennial...

[Pav]

I find discussions on Peter Parker's career interesting because of what they highlight about people's perceptions regarding success. Honestly, I'd love to see the writers of the comics tackle the subject a little more mindfully as well.

Not to get too personal, but there are people in my life who don't consider my career choices to be very intelligent, yet I get a great amount of satisfaction from my work, even if the pay is lousy and the upward mobility is treacherously difficult. Similarly, considering Peter's sense of responsibility - and how it might differ from other characters' perceptions of the subject - I'd like to see more done to juxtapose the various positions about what constitutes important work, valuable use of time and resources, etc.

I bring this up because i think Grim Ghost made a good point about the board's general disdain for the career of photography, when really, it's as much an art as painting or poetry. And sure, I like Peter having a job rooted in science, but I think any intelligent man has multiple interests, and there's a lot to be said for practicing an art form.

If it were up to me, I'd probably portray Peter as constantly juggling part-time jobs: science gigs, sure - but also subbing in the public school system, selling photos, etc. I would want to play up the idea that Peter's sense of responsibility often gets in his own way.

-Pav, who knows the hero's greatest downfall is always himself...

[Webhead]

I don't mind Peter being a photographer, I don't care for him being an informed "lousy" photographer though. If you consider every time someone calls him out on his photos being blurry or having a bad compostion/angle he ends up looking awful at the longest job he's had. Which might be justified by the fact he's not shooting those himself, but it gets sad to see him get that treatment and unbelievable that he'd keep the gig for so long.
I think this is due to the one weakness of the job is related to what Pav said though:

I bring this up because i think Grim Ghost made a good point about the board's general disdain for the career of photography, when really, it's as much an art as painting or poetry.

To my knowledge he's not been shown caring much for his photography itself. He sees them as either a way to earn money or evidence of whatever they show to help him fight crime.

[Abishai100]

Pictures of Pictures



This is a fun topic.

Clark Kent (Superman) is a mild-mannered reporter for the Daily Planet, while Peter Parker (Spider-Man) is a mild-mannered photographer for the Daily Bugle.

These days it seems journalism and photography have become colloquialized, since practically everyone is walking around with a mobile phone with a built-in mini-camera in it, and peer-edited real-time commentaries make the Internet an arena for 'high-speed traffic/culture news.'

The fact that Spider-Man's everyman identity is a photographer suggests that we should consider how Spidey villains such as Carnage and Green Goblin represent human anxieties about 'perception diffusion.'

Maybe Peter sees the camera as a tool for capturing humanity's frowns.






The Daily Bugle


parker.jpg

[Kevinroc]

I think in today's "selfie" obsessed culture, there's a lot of fun with a super hero who makes his living taking pictures of himself.

That Stan Lee. He was ahead of his time.

[Voror]

I think it works better for early in his career, but actually really liked some of his later jobs like as a teacher during JMS' run or as a scientist during Slott's. The idea above about perhaps integrating it with his science work is a good one I think, although is would be a bit odd since he's never been mentioned as being a good writer as far as I can recall.

[EuphemismForSex]

I find discussions on Peter Parker's career interesting because of what they highlight about people's perceptions regarding success. Honestly, I'd love to see the writers of the comics tackle the subject a little more mindfully as well.

Not to get too personal, but there are people in my life who don't consider my career choices to be very intelligent, yet I get a great amount of satisfaction from my work, even if the pay is lousy and the upward mobility is treacherously difficult. Similarly, considering Peter's sense of responsibility - and how it might differ from other characters' perceptions of the subject - I'd like to see more done to juxtapose the various positions about what constitutes important work, valuable use of time and resources, etc.

I bring this up because i think Grim Ghost made a good point about the board's general disdain for the career of photography, when really, it's as much an art as painting or poetry. And sure, I like Peter having a job rooted in science, but I think any intelligent man has multiple interests, and there's a lot to be said for practicing an art form.

If it were up to me, I'd probably portray Peter as constantly juggling part-time jobs: science gigs, sure - but also subbing in the public school system, selling photos, etc. I would want to play up the idea that Peter's sense of responsibility often gets in his own way.

-Pav, who knows the hero's greatest downfall is always himself...

I don't think Peter ever had an interest in photography as an art, only as a means to an end. It's obvious his passion was in science, and it makes sense that he'd move onto greener pastures and not look back.

As someone who actually has a great interest in the arts, but came from a financially unstable household, responsibility was getting an engineering degree and heading straight into the workforce. I feel for Peter, it would be much the same even if he actually did have an interest in photography. All the same, it's still depressing that Peter never completed his post-grad in the sciences, that would've made me feel like shit if I was in the same boat, all that money wasted.

That said, my favorite job of his was when he was a teacher. The photography job is iconic, though.