Leading photographers have expressed frustration at Burberry’s decision to invite Brooklyn Beckham to shoot its latest fragrance campaign, saying it devalues the skills and training of professionals.

David and Victoria Beckham’s 16-year-old son announced on his Instagram feed on Friday that he would be photographing the Burberry campaign this weekend and that live updates would be posted on social media. Burberry later confirmed Beckham’s announcement through its own Instagram account and encouraged fans to follow the shoot live using the hashtag #THISISBRIT.

Brooklyn is the second Beckham child to work with Burberry after his younger brother Romeo’s role in the label’s Christmas advert, which attracted 11m views within 48 hours of launching.

One of the campaign shots. Photograph: Burberry UK Instagram

Fashion photographer Chris Floyd told the Guardian that Burberry’s decision to employ the inexperienced Beckham was a “devaluation of photography” that showed a lack of respect for hardworking, experienced professionals.

The 47-year-old, who is best known for his striking portraits of celebrities including Stephen Fry and Paul McCartney, also said Brooklyn’s jump to professionalism “goes against everything his parents represent”.

Brooklyn Beckham announces his shoot on Twitter. Photograph: @brooklynbeckham/Twitter

He said: “David and Victoria Beckham represent sheer willpower and graft. Especially her, she’s climbed that mountain all by herself. They represent hard work and then their 16-year-old year son comes along and it’s sheer nepotism. He hasn’t done it from hard work, which is counter-intuitive to what his parents represent.”

Floyd admitted Burberry’s decision to employ a teenage star with millions of Instagram followers was very clever, but said it had nothing to do with producing good photography.

“Part of me takes my hat off to Burberry and says that’s clever, but the photographer side of me says for god’s sake,” said Floyd. “Brooklyn Beckham’s got however many million Instagram followers, that’s what’s attracted Burberry. The people his age are Burberry’s target market or the future target market.”

Jon Gorrigan, a photographer who has worked with Esquire, Grazia and the Observer and with models such as Alexa Chung, said he expected Burberry would have the entire setup ready so that all Brooklyn had to do was click the button.

“He’s obviously not going to be doing the lighting, he’ll have no clue of the programmes, the cameras or Photoshop,” Gorrigan said. “It’s going to be so well managed – he’ll have the best hair and makeup, the best models, the very best equipment, so that the chance of any risk is greatly reduced.

“It infuriates me because I learned my trade and other photographers learn their trade but he’s not learning his trade. I can understand why they’re doing it, getting the younger generation interested in Burberry. It definitely annoys me. Names sell, don’t they?”

Gorrigan said digital photography was making life for professional photographers increasingly difficult. “People who are under-trained can get a good result with an Instagram filter. I suppose it keeps me on my toes. The industry is like that, a bit of injustice in a lot of areas.”

One of the campaign shots. Photograph: Burberry UK Instagram

Christopher Bailey, Burberry chief creative and chief executive officer, defended the decision to commission Beckham for the shoot: “Brooklyn has a really great eye for image and Instagram works brilliantly for him as a platform to showcase his work. His style and attitude were exactly what we wanted to capture the spirit of this new fragrance campaign.”

Sarah Brimley, a photographer who until recently worked as an assistant to the fashion photographer David Bailey, defended Brooklyn. “I don’t think he feels entitled and I don’t imagine he’s this spoilt brat,” the 29-year-old said. “He hasn’t had to do the work the rest of us have to do but … he probably knows how lucky he is.

“There is a proportionate amount of people who work hard and others who just have it handed to them. Brooklyn is lucky now but he hasn’t had the years of assisting some of us have had.

“The slow and steady route is a guarantee to success if you have the talent.”