The Dark Secret of Photography
Saw this interesting blog on Photoshelter.
https://blog.photoshelter.com/2018/01/celebrities-serious-photography-2/
I love their product and their advocacy. However, the dark secret of photography (especially photojournalism) as a profession is that it's basically only available to privileged people with a lot of resources (or special access). Not all of us are on tour with a world famous rock band, or are famous movie stars married to other famous movie stars. To me, it seems entirely predictable that celebrities are "accomplished" or "serious" photographers.
A basic professional kit of 1 camera, 2 lenses, a flash, and a computer with software and peripherals etc. is $10,000. Thankfully I have parents that helped me get started. The best piece of (sobering) advice I've ever heard is that if you want to start out as a freelancer you should have $20-30k in the bank. It would've been impossible without that help. I was also in a relationship at the time (I eventually married her!) that helped defray the cost. All that set the stage for me to make it. And 4-5 years later, I was a staffer at a terrible paper getting paid nothing and had "made it". I could pay my bills. I'm still paying off my credit card debt, but I've been "making it" as a photographer ever since.
I AM NOT saying that the only reason some people make good pictures is because they have money. But it damn sure makes it easier. You still have to put the work in. Show up. Connect with people and have good ideas. But if you're a movie star and married to another movie star. A huge magazine might just be willing to photograph your pictures of your wife. You might just be able to produce a lot of cool rock n roll photos...if you're already a rock star...You might be able to make darn cool photos of resorts and locations, as you travel the world, working...In other words, without the resources to keep us afloat the first 3-5 years building a business, I just don't see how it's possible to make it as a photographer...There are many news events, or story ideas that I've passed on because there just didn't seem to be any way to make it happen.
The profession may not have always had that barrier to entry. Years ago, you could get a couple freelance gigs in a month and your bills/rent would be paid. Everything else went in the bank and you saved it for the next great idea you had. I think of Gordon Parks, Eugene Smith or Dave Burnett. I don't think it's the case anymore. I live in the DC area and a typical freelance news gig pays between $2-300. Yes, there are many that pay less, and a few that pay more. But generally you'll get between $2-300 for a FULL DAY of shooting for a newspaper/wire service. Usually that's 4-5 hours of your time. Assisting also nets you $2-350/day. But then you don't have anything for your portfolio...which is how you get jobs later...If you shoot for magazines, they can pay between $400-1000. many pay more than that. And far too many pay less. However, if you're getting the gigs that pay more than the above, you probably spent a few years putting the work in to get to that point, which proves my point...
If you want to make a decent living in a city like DC, you need to pull in about $60-100k GROSS receipts to get to something like $45-75k net. In a city like DC...I'm ballparking it, here... Gotta pay taxes, living expenses, business expenses like software, new gear, fixing gear, etc. I'm not even counting having children, owning a home, or God forbid, having a hobby...
So to get to $60k/year (let's start on the low end), you need to pull in $5k/month. Or $1250/week. See where this is going? If you're booking nice corporate and commercial gigs, no problem. But again, that takes time to build up a client base to get to that point. So if you're new trying to make it...good luck. you need to be booking 5 jobs/week. every. single. month. This is why it takes 3-5 years, in my opinion, to get to the point that you can pull in $60k + in Gross Receipts/year. And even then it's not like you're living high on the hog. That's pre-tax. Pre-living expense. Pre-business expense. You're probably spending at least $20k on those combined, if you're lucky.3-5 years before you make a livingyeah. that's it. how the heck are you going to afford living in an area like DC if you can't immediately pull in $5k/month in receipts? Gotta have those resources and access right out of the gates. It's nice to see rich celebrities making neat photos. But lets not kid ourselves. They have a leg up on everyone because of it...I want to see the blog about the photographers that made it with nothing to start with...
https://blog.photoshelter.com/2018/01/celebrities-serious-photography-2/
I love their product and their advocacy. However, the dark secret of photography (especially photojournalism) as a profession is that it's basically only available to privileged people with a lot of resources (or special access). Not all of us are on tour with a world famous rock band, or are famous movie stars married to other famous movie stars. To me, it seems entirely predictable that celebrities are "accomplished" or "serious" photographers.
A basic professional kit of 1 camera, 2 lenses, a flash, and a computer with software and peripherals etc. is $10,000. Thankfully I have parents that helped me get started. The best piece of (sobering) advice I've ever heard is that if you want to start out as a freelancer you should have $20-30k in the bank. It would've been impossible without that help. I was also in a relationship at the time (I eventually married her!) that helped defray the cost. All that set the stage for me to make it. And 4-5 years later, I was a staffer at a terrible paper getting paid nothing and had "made it". I could pay my bills. I'm still paying off my credit card debt, but I've been "making it" as a photographer ever since.
I AM NOT saying that the only reason some people make good pictures is because they have money. But it damn sure makes it easier. You still have to put the work in. Show up. Connect with people and have good ideas. But if you're a movie star and married to another movie star. A huge magazine might just be willing to photograph your pictures of your wife. You might just be able to produce a lot of cool rock n roll photos...if you're already a rock star...You might be able to make darn cool photos of resorts and locations, as you travel the world, working...In other words, without the resources to keep us afloat the first 3-5 years building a business, I just don't see how it's possible to make it as a photographer...There are many news events, or story ideas that I've passed on because there just didn't seem to be any way to make it happen.
The profession may not have always had that barrier to entry. Years ago, you could get a couple freelance gigs in a month and your bills/rent would be paid. Everything else went in the bank and you saved it for the next great idea you had. I think of Gordon Parks, Eugene Smith or Dave Burnett. I don't think it's the case anymore. I live in the DC area and a typical freelance news gig pays between $2-300. Yes, there are many that pay less, and a few that pay more. But generally you'll get between $2-300 for a FULL DAY of shooting for a newspaper/wire service. Usually that's 4-5 hours of your time. Assisting also nets you $2-350/day. But then you don't have anything for your portfolio...which is how you get jobs later...If you shoot for magazines, they can pay between $400-1000. many pay more than that. And far too many pay less. However, if you're getting the gigs that pay more than the above, you probably spent a few years putting the work in to get to that point, which proves my point...
If you want to make a decent living in a city like DC, you need to pull in about $60-100k GROSS receipts to get to something like $45-75k net. In a city like DC...I'm ballparking it, here... Gotta pay taxes, living expenses, business expenses like software, new gear, fixing gear, etc. I'm not even counting having children, owning a home, or God forbid, having a hobby...
So to get to $60k/year (let's start on the low end), you need to pull in $5k/month. Or $1250/week. See where this is going? If you're booking nice corporate and commercial gigs, no problem. But again, that takes time to build up a client base to get to that point. So if you're new trying to make it...good luck. you need to be booking 5 jobs/week. every. single. month. This is why it takes 3-5 years, in my opinion, to get to the point that you can pull in $60k + in Gross Receipts/year. And even then it's not like you're living high on the hog. That's pre-tax. Pre-living expense. Pre-business expense. You're probably spending at least $20k on those combined, if you're lucky.3-5 years before you make a livingyeah. that's it. how the heck are you going to afford living in an area like DC if you can't immediately pull in $5k/month in receipts? Gotta have those resources and access right out of the gates. It's nice to see rich celebrities making neat photos. But lets not kid ourselves. They have a leg up on everyone because of it...I want to see the blog about the photographers that made it with nothing to start with...
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