Square's Newest Project is a Robot Photographer That Wants to Steal Your Job

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With the rise of online stores, traditional product photography has become more important than ever.

However, since the median age of a small business owner in the U.S. is over 50, many of these businesses have no idea how to take proper product photographs. That's where Square's newest robot photographer comes in.

Square Photo Studio

The Square Photo Studio is a tiny space crammed between two booming businesses in Brooklyn. I suppose robots don't need that much room.

The studio features a white table, a ton of extremely bright lights, and a robotic arm with a high-end camera attached to it.

For $10, plus shipping, you can send any product under 20 pounds to the Square Photo Studio and receive 3 high-end photos in return.

Square sank over $20,000 into this initial project so far. This is because they are planning to rapidly expand the idea.

Currently, humans are required to run the robotic studio. A product manager is needed to unpack the items, set them up on the table and activate the robot from a computer.

But, if the studio expands the way Square is expecting it to, they plan to open studio after studio, requiring less and less human help as they develop.

Traditional Product Photog Vs. This Robot

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It's no secret that a boom in online selling platforms led to a steep drop in traditional product photography prices.

Take for example this website I came across after googling, "product photography prices."

The website, Products On White Photography, is the exact same business model as the Square Studio, albeit a lot more expensive.

So, while specialized product photography businesses like this one should be shaking in their boots, what does this mean for your average specialized product photographer?

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^{Photo by Mae Mu on Unsplash}

Commercial product photographers can charge a lot of money. They can charge a lot of money because their images are going to then be used to make a lot of money.

Take, for example, Rob Greer, a well-known Los Angeles based commercial product photographer.

He charges $300 per hour of commercial photography shooting and editing.

He also charges a $200 set-up fee and a $100 travel charge.

Editor's Tip: Starting a photography business? Save money and buy quality used gear. You can save hundreds if you buy a used camera and used lenses, and apply those savings to investing in other gear. Better still, a great way to watch your bottom line is to sell or trade in your old gear that you no longer use. Doing so minimizes how much gear you have to keep track of, and if you sell or trade in your gear, you have some spare money to put towards upgrading your kit. It's a win-win!

But, Greer focuses on medium to large-sized corporations, not your everyday mom and pop shop.

When Square opened in 2009, its sole purpose was to help small business owners to be able to accept the plastic money we all carry around with us now.

In this endeavour, Square is continuing its ultimate goal of helping small businesses (and individuals).

More than half of the products sold on Amazon are sold by individuals, and the thinking goes that if these people had better product photos for a cheaper price then their products might sell for more money.

While Square is fully aware that their new robot photographer is cheaper than any other photographers on the market, they don't seem very concerned about the livelihood of product photographers.