He is famous as a historian.
She is a famous musician.
She is active and successful as a photographer.
屋 is a casual, sometimes slightly mocking suffix for shopkeepers or personality traits (頑固屋), while 家 is neutral or respectful and used for serious professions or areas of expertise.
家 is a suffix meaning 'specialist' or 'professional' (作家, 画家) with a stronger nuance of expertise, while 者 more broadly marks any agent or role, expert or not.
家 marks an expert or master of a field (音楽家, 政治家) with a sense of mastery, whereas 人 in profession compounds (芸能人, 社会人) is more neutral and doesn't imply special skill.
As the suffix -家 (か) meaning "person who ~" (as in 作家), 家 is pronounced か and attached to another noun, but the same kanji read いえ is the separate everyday noun for "house/home."
From the kanji 家 (house/family), extended to mean a specialist or person associated with a field. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the suffix use is well-established in modern Japanese.
domestic animals; livestock
painter; artist
family lineage; pedigree; ancestry
household finances; family budget
house; building
master; expert; authority; leading figure · mansion; large house · rich family; distinguished family
private house; private residence
household management; home economics; housekeeping
hiding place; hideout; refuge · retreat; hideaway; getaway
one's own house · own; personal; autologous
musician
vassal; retainer
(my) wife · inside the home; one's family
domicile; premises; residence
family business; family trade · one's occupation; one's trade
family crest
thinker; philosopher
heirloom; family treasure
family member; household member; occupant
forestry family; family working in the forest industry
head of a family; patriarch; matriarch