The Gatekeeping No One Talks About
By Sherry Edith Dansby

They say all you need is talent, but I’ve stood behind a barricade watching someone with less skill and more connections walk right past security like they belonged there.

Sometimes I wonder what would happen if someone pointed a lens back at us—the photographers. The ones kneeling in the rain, wedged between trash cans and lighting rigs. The ones without the right badge, the right outfit, or the right agency name on our lanyards.

This isn’t about bitterness. It’s about truth.

The Price of Being Independent

I’ve been in this industry long enough to know that the red carpet isn’t just rolled out for anyone. Access—true access—is a currency most of us can’t afford.

If you're not affiliated with a major outlet, or if you're freelance, queer, trans, a woman, or a person of color... your shot at that velvet rope might never come. And if it does, it’s often through back doors, third-rate placements, or not at all.

Sometimes we’re told: “This is how it works.” But just because something works for the system doesn't mean it works for the people.

Who Decides Who Gets to Belong?

I've had emails ignored, press requests denied, and been told outright that there were "no more spots." Only to find out a few days later that others—who looked different, moved in different circles—were credentialed on the spot.

This isn’t just about me. It's about all the artists whose names you’ve never heard because they never got the chance.

It’s about the mother who shoots to put food on the table.
The trans teenager trying to build a career in a world that doesn't see her.
The older photographer edged out by newer tech and younger faces.

We are not invisible because we lack talent. We are invisible because of the gates placed between us and opportunity.

Pay to Play: The Silent Wall

And then there's the other side of it: money. I've been asked to pay hundreds—sometimes thousands—just to stand in a pit with no guarantee of publication, protection, or even credit. That’s not opportunity. That’s exploitation dressed up as “exposure.”

How can we build a just creative industry if access is something you have to buy?

What Gets Lost

When you exclude storytellers, you erase stories.
When you credential the same agencies over and over, you flatten the narrative.
When you silence photographers because they’re too loud, too queer, too poor, too "other"—you limit what the world sees and remembers.

We don’t just take pictures. We document history. And when you deny access, you don’t just deny a paycheck—you deny legacy.

A Personal Note

I’m not asking for favors. I’m asking for fairness.
Let talent speak. Let access be earned, not bought or brokered behind closed doors.

Some of the best images you’ve never seen were taken by people you’ve never heard of—because someone decided they didn’t belong.

It’s time we talk about that.

Coming next:
The Invisible Artist: Part 2 – Respect, Credit, and Consent