&gt;Cameras have gotten better and better while getting cheaper. 
&gt;Twenty years ago the only people taking photos of this quality were professional photographers. 
&gt;Now we have college students who can work really hard over a school break and be able to afford a great camera setup.<p>I couldnt agree less.<p>This is not photography that he is doing, its just some sort of expensive and glorified social media thing. Good on him for having an interesting hobby, but please stop confusing this with &quot;Photography&quot; ... it is not.<p>Modern Cameras (just like smartphones) are getting bigger, heavier, more useless, and more expensive than ever. Please stop thinking that this is some kind of &quot;progress&quot;.<p>I totally agree with your comment about the quality matching that of &quot;Professional Photographers&quot;. The &quot;quality&quot; of these photos is just crap. Soulless, 2 dimensional crap. Its right up there with &quot;Wedding Photography&quot;.<p>He may as well just leave all that DSLR garbage at home and take his happy snaps on an iPhone.<p>Real photography is actually more accessible than ever. There is no shortage of stupid in this day and age, and so you will find plenty of excellent kit being sold for pennies, because stupid people think that :
   - &quot;It cant upload photos to instagram&quot; (Canon 700d .. makes for a great neg scanner)
   - &quot;Its only 5 megapixels&quot;  (Leica Digilux 2)
   - &quot;You cant buy film anymore&quot; (Canon AE-1, in mint condition, with a whole box full of filters and lenses)
   - &quot;Wont recharge, and cant get batteries anymore&quot; (Leica M3)
   - &quot;Not sure how to use it&quot; (Olympus OM-2n, with accessories including a gorgeous 50&#x2F;1.4 Zuiko)<p>A college student need not work hard to afford a real camera, they need not work at all in fact.<p>As for developing and printing ... coffee grinds, beetroot juice, washing soda, cheap wine ... they all work, and experimenting with them will actually teach the student a whole lot of valuable things across multiple disciplines.  After all - that is what they supposedly at college for isnt it ?