Hi, > there are hundreds of recent graduates with diplomas in > photography (at least two colleges in this area offer such diplomas) > who are prepared to work as assistants for ~free~ to get experience. [...]
> Before anyone jumps in, no I'm not a twisted bitter old man (ok, I am > so, but not because of this <g>), but those are simply the realities, > at least here in Toronto. It's also true here in London. I first took up photography at the same time as a friend of mine, Don, about 27 years ago. We agreed that we would both be professional photographers by the time we were 30 - which was then about 10 years in the future. I started quite well by getting a lot of calls about work from an exhibition I had. But unfortunately I was travelling for 3 months, so I never got the calls, never capitalised on the success of the exhibition, and then got caught up in the maelstrom of trying to keep b&s together in London. At this time Don came to stay at my flat and starting hawking his portfolio around the London studios. Bizarrely he was offered a lot of work modelling, but eventually he found unpaid work as an assistant. He lived on my floor rent-free for a year, and received a small allowance from his father to pay for his food. In the end he was a professional well before he was 30, and managed to scrape a living as a photographer for over 20 years. When his children started to arrive he found he needed something more reliable, so gave up professional photography and got himself a proper job. Now he takes about 2 or 3 paid photography jobs per year, mostly shooting mountaineering and other outdoor equipment abroad, so he gets a bit of pay, plus the chance to climb, ski, walk, paddle etc., which suits him fine. Having watched him all these years, I don't envy him. It was a hand-to-mouth life, with a lot of worry. Even though I am self-employed, and often out of work, I am not psychology equipped for the difficulties Don had to put up with, and which I know other photographers have to deal with too. One of the differences between him and me, which partly explains why he became a photographer and I didn't, is that I always had other possibilities open to me, whereas he has no academic qualifications at all, and had no other choices. -- Cheers, Bob
