Breaking into a career in photography.
It seems like every week now I receive at least two or three emails from
photography students looking for work experience or assisting positions. This
probably isn’t surprising considering the number of photography courses in
operation at the moment (far too many in my opinion). Literally thousands of
photography graduates are churned out every year. Obviously there is no way the
industry can support that many new entrants to the market, so competition is
fierce from the outset.
I thought I would use this column to offer some helpful suggestions to those
young students who are nearing the end of their studies and looking to take
their first step into the wide world of commercial photography by assisting.
It's important to realize that these days there are very few assisting
“positions”, as most photographers can no longer afford to employ an assistant
full time. So you need to get used the idea of being a freelance assistant where
you are hired on a casual basis. This can make life very challenging as you
never really know when your next job might come in. Sometimes it can be weeks
between jobs, which can have significant financial implications. Other times you
can be so busy that you end up having to turn down work (and potentially lose
clients as a result). Freelance assisting is constantly challenging and often
highly stressful, but that’s what makes it such an excellent training ground for
your future career as a freelance photographer.
To get any work at all you’ll need to promote yourself to photographers. Your
promotion can (and should) take a number of different forms. Business cards,
postcards, websites, personal letters and emails can all be used as a means of
getting your name in front of potential clients. However if you want your
promotional efforts to have any real effect you need to use an intelligent and
considered approach. Here are a few “dos and don’ts” to help you on your way:
Don’t “spam” every photographer you can find with a cheesy form letter/email.
Target the people whose work you honestly admire and send them a personalized
message.
Do check your spelling and grammar. Intelligence is a prerequisite for any
skilled job, so writing like a two year old won’t help your cause. And “txt”
language might be OK for mobile phones, but it’s definitely not appropriate for
letters or emails.
Do include your contact details on everything. You wouldn’t believe how many
students send me promo material without this basic but essential information.
Do include information about yourself (especially your training, experience and
any references) but if it’s not relevant to assisting leave it out.
Don’t attach dozens of large uncompressed photos to your emails. Jamming up
someone’s email account does not leave a good first impression. If you want to
include a couple of images then make sure they are compressed to less than
100kb.
Do follow up with a phone call to try and arrange a face to face meeting. No
photographer is likely to hire you sight unseen as a result of a random email or
postcard. Remember, persistence pays off.
Article Submitted by Dade
"Click" Boswell. Still Photographer in Los Angeles, California.