The AIPP
The AIPP shut down end 2021 due to difficulties caused by the pandemic. The below is left for historical reasons.
The Australian Institute of Professional Photography is the peak body for photographers in Australia. It is what the Law Society is to Lawyers.
While lawyers need a degree and a bar exam, anyone can buy/borrow a camera. As a result there are a lot of “professional” photographers around.
There are dozens of Institutes of <Professional/Newborn/Portrait/Baby/Family> Photographers which are just web directories run by for-profit SEO companies charging as little as $12 to join. There are also thriving businesses who basically sell awards/accreditation to members who pay an annual fee.
The AIPP is the only official organisation for photography that has Australian government recognition. Membership costs ~$500 yearly. It’s not a lot, but enough to weed out those not serious enough about their profession. And yes there is a portfolio assessment to be admitted.
It will never be a legal requirement for photographers to be Accredited by the AIPP – photography isn’t life and death. Some professionals choose not to be part of AIPP.
However when you hire an Accredited Professional Photographer it means among other things:
- They have a baseline level of skill required to perform their work. (They didn’t “borrow” their portfolio from the web)
- They’re fully insured. (You won’t be footing the bill for freak accidents)
- They follow a code of ethics. (They won’t do dodgy things that end up on current affairs programs)
Valent Lau was a fully Accredited Professional Photographer of the AIPP from 2013 to its closure in 2021.
NSW Business Chamber
Valent Lau is also a member of:
- Coogee Chamber of Commerce, Executive Member 2021-
- Maroubra Chamber of Commerce
- NSW Business Chamber
- Realise Business
This again simply means we support local small business, and follow a code of ethics and promise to act professionally at all times.
What It All Means
In the ideal world – nothing. You should be able to use any photographer and have a wonderful experience. But there’s no licensing for photographers. Anyone can pick up a camera and call themselves one. At least once a year there’s a story on a current affairs program about how a photographer or videographer ruined a family’s memories.
We are members of these organisations to give you peace of mind that we will deliver as promised, and give you a great experience each step of the way.
What our clients say
Skye Garrard-Berg
Parramatta
Working with Valent was a wonderful experience. As well as receiving great quality of photos, I felt at home with a lovely atmosphere and warm environment :) Very kind and professional, I definitely will recommend him.
Valent Lau is an amazing and talented photographer. His work is excellent and his photos are amazing and creative. He is patient and work is excellent. Thank you for your beautiful photos. I strongly recommend Valent Lau.
Great photoshoot, very relaxing. Valent Lau is a great photographer I recommend 😃😃!!
Isabel Robles Marban
Randwick
I think Valent is really highly detailed in everything he does. When you have a kid, there are so many things happening around the kids and you have baby brain. It's really good to have his input when he was taking the pictures. Valent gives direction, but also helps you feel what you want to capture.
When he was handing our newborn who was just 13 days old, Valent was extremely careful. You could tell he had experience with babies because he didn't disturb the baby at all, he was happy and kept sleeping all the way through.
My wife and I came in to see Valent to get photos taken of our 5 week old son. Initially we just wanted to get a few casual shots, we didn't think we'd want many. In the end we were very happy with all the photos we got. Valent made us very relaxed throughout the whole process. He got to know us and understand us and our relationship with our son. We were very very happy and got some wonderful photos.
I had a great experience with Valent Lau Photography. They were friendly, professional and the finished product is awesome. All in all, it was a great experience & I would highly recommend them.
From the beginning it was very clear that Valent went the extra mile for his customers. He made us feel like he had a lot of time for us and our individual story and put an emphasis on personalizing the photos as much as possible. He is extremely professional and his studio is very relaxed. The whole photography session was really an experience rather than a run of the mill photoshoot. Valent knew how to bring out some of our real emotions making for a very beautiful set of photos. I would definitely recommend his services as a cut above the rest.
Prue Fullford
The Children's Hospital at Westmead and Bear Cottage
On behalf of the children and families at Bear Cottage we sincerely thank you for your support of Bear Cottage through your donation of an auction prize of for A Bear Affair, our major annual fundraising event. The success of this event is entirely dependent on support such as yours to raise critical funds to support paediatric palliative care at Bear Cottage.
Please convey our thanks to those who made this donation possible, in the words of one of our Bear Cottage mum's "the people who raise money for Bear Cottage are angels" and we couldn't agree more.
With warm regards and heartf(...)
