I've had close associations with a few working artists over the years. Yes photography is an art, not a typical trade.
Only three of these were successful artists. From what I've seen there are a couple of ways of making a living at it, and although having the talent is a prerequisite, the talent only makes it possible to then use it to make the living. Making a living from it is NOT a given no matter how talented you are.
One way I watched is to be a successful and skillful salesman of your own product. This requires a ton of work, networking, hobnobbing and all that stuff you can lump in with this facet of the game. It can be fun if you like that sort of thing. Lots of interesting people out there to know. It can also burn you out depending on how things go. The one example I have for this way kind of ended that way, but the guy appeared to enjoy it actually. He was obviously tired of it after a while and something else came up which wasn't art at all, but he shifted lanes and went into that new field and is very successful now. That hobnobbing practice became useful in the new endeavor to be sure.
The other way is to incorporate the art into another venture and have a really cool business when you add the two together. one guy I know now owns a city block with one successful, artistic club, a successful artistic deli, a pretty active art studio where he and a crew build architectural installations and play with their own individual works too, and an amphitheater which local concerts and such going on. He works a lot but seems to love it. The second guy is an artist in a very niche market with very wealthy patrons and actually works on his art about the rest of us's equivalent of 2 months per year. He has a lot of time off and travels a lot, but they are working vacations since his "other job" is designing and managing installations and general contractor of expensive museum additions and that kind of thing. He started his craft when he was young and just ended up very lucky, as well as talented and skilled.
So if you want to do something like this, try to think bigger and imagine something more than but inclusive of photography. Don't expect interesting composition and good timing with pictures to be enough to make a living. That will take you to the homeless shelter faster than you would ever expect. You'll want to think outside the box. Think of other things you enjoy and try to smash them together for ideas. It's not unusual for people to do one thing for years then switch to something better later then another and maybe even another. Personally, I started out as a musician and teacher. That was a lot of work and spiritually fulfilling but I was always broke and on the hustle. Currently I am a machinist and I enjoy it more than anything else I've ever done. It's making parts for machines, but the process is extremely creative and fulfilling, and more importantly, it pays much better. My path to machinist came from starting as a musician and I won't describe it here, but it's very interesting how passing events lead to unexpected destinations.
Later in life it's tempting to have regrets. If I had started down the machinist/engineer path out of high school I would have been much more successful by now. But I would probably be more bitter and likely burned out by now too. My path was my path and that's how it goes. There were some dark, rocky roads along the way, but I can say it didn't turn out too bad thus far.
So earlier did I say go big or go homeless? Yes I guess I did.
Good luck.
