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Engaging with the Industry

09th December 2010

I am probably what is referred to as an “emerging artist”. I have been practising photography professionally (or at least trying to) for about three years. Following a career in photography is not simple. Unlike many roles in the public and private sectors, there is no clear path available. This is now compounded by the rise of digital photography, where images are ubiquitous and easily accessible through the Internet. As a result, previous positions such as staff photographers on newspapers no longer exist. So how does one go about becoming a professional photographer? Sadly I don’t have all the answers, if I did I wouldn’t still be working my day job. However, in my three short years since finishing my course in photography I have been quite lucky and these are the secrets:

It’s not what you know but whom you know. I know that this is rather clichéd but it remains true. I have good connections in the media through my both parents. If it wasn’t through one of these connections I would not be in a position to be writing this blog as a board director for Look11 or working for the Redeye Network. Furthermore, a large proportion of my photographic income has come through work that I have gained as a result of connections through my parents. If you have any networking opportunities through people you know, use them. Like many artists my practice has ups and downs, but it is important to remember that downs are OK, provided that you continue to network during these times, “laying the ground work”.

Think about other ways to work with photography. For the past two years I have been leading participatory, photography workshops. These mainly centre on working with people with disabilities and teaching them the skills to tell their own stories. I had never imagined that this work even existed and I got my initial place based on the work I do at Liverpool John Moores University as a disability support worker (my day job). I have now designed, lead, delivered and evaluated three projects such as this and have two more in the pipeline for early next year. Though I am not getting paid to take pictures myself, I am working with photography, meeting other people in the field and, most importantly for the professional, getting paid for this work, thus reducing the amount of time I spend at the day- ‘non-photography job’

Embrace technology. Until September I was rather against Twitter and Flickr. I felt that Twitter was yet another fad and could not really see the point. However, after a talk from Twitter aficionado Christian Payne (@documentally) I began to see its power as a means to network and communicate about my work. As a result of this I now have numerous people following what I’m up to and getting in touch to participate in projects I have going on. Flickr too was another transformation for me. Before, I could not see what was to be gained by sharing my pictures. However, I came to realise that if I didn’t use sites like this, all I had was a small number of pictures on my website and a vast amount on my hard drive, which nobody but myself could see. Now my various blogs get quite a lot of views, meaning that somebody out there is looking at my pictures (I just hope it’s not only my mum). I guess with embracing technology such as the Internet or digital, the question is what do you gain from not participating? I gained nothing, but a misguided sense of self-satisfaction in believing that I was right (I wasn’t).

I’m not saying that if you follow these three broad tips you will become and instant success. I haven’t, but I do feel that my practise is going somewhere. Each year I earn slightly more from photography, meet more people, find new opportunities and improve my skills base.