This story is from Niche Work If You Can Get It, a Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4. It was presented by Nick Baker and produced by Leeanne Coyle. Adapted by Sarah Keating.
In a corner of The Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh, a woman is nervously posing in front of a photographer. She’s not your typical model though. 53-year-old Rose is having her photo taken for her internet dating profile. The photographer standing in front of her specialises in profile pictures for online dating sites.
So, good photos equal good quality dates. Poor photos – hook-ups and poor quality dates
A group of curious Japanese tourists walk by as photographer, Rachel Spence, explains the process, giving her client advice on her choice of outfit. “Before you’ve even got here I’ve done some prep on the location because I know you love the gardens so I’m going to take into consideration what you like,” Spence tells her.
Rose says her son has taken her profile pictures up until now “sat on the couch looking a bit lonesome and sad,” she laughs.
But is there a big market for such a niche job – the internet daters’ photographer? Well, figures show that the online dating industry will be worth £225 million in the UK in 2019 and generates approximately $3 billion per year in the US. And another statistic shows 90% of a dating profile is all about the photograph. So with so much emphasis on the image you use, it’s not surprising that creating that image has become a growing lucrative, industry.
Saskia Nelson founded Hey Saturday which claims to be the first professional internet dating photography agency. They have been trading for four years and have expanded to four other locations, including New York.
Source : BBC
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