Daughter wants to be a photo journalist

[Dan Daniel]

Well, a quick search of the Popular Photography site leads to some articles that might be of interest to her:
Dead Link Removed
Not heavy on the US Labor Dept statistical data, of course.... : )

 

[Colin Corneau]

Google Sean Gallagher, photographer working in China.

Check out the "About" section.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

There are no guarantees

The only photographers more endangered than photojournalists are documentary photographers (if not stock photographers). Perhaps there is "hunger" but there is no money.

Not trying to dissuade your daughter from practicing photojournalism or documentary photography... but I'm a working newspaper photographer/photojournalist with a ten-year old daughter. She won't be a photographer for a career, if I can help it! I will encourage her to learn and enjoy photography, but strongly steer her away from trying to make a go at to feed her family.

There are no guarantees in a career of course. I think trying to work for a newspaper is going to be tough. I would also suggest along with other college courses that will give her good grant writing skills. Teaching is also an avenue for extra income. I would say be flexible. Don't just see still photography as an only media outlet. Consider video also. I wish her the best of luck.

 

[guitstik]

Again I say, everyone here is reinforcing the same things that I have been telling her. I want my children to do what they enjoy and enjoy what they do meaning that if they have an interest and they can pursue it as a career they will be much happier than I am. What parent does not want their children to exceed what they themselves have done. I want only for her to do better than I have and to be happy doing it. The problem lies with balancing what will pay the bills with what makes you happy and that can be a precarious line to walk. If I remember correctly, I think that Suzanne was on Analogue Photography Radio and I could not wait to get my daughter to listen to it but as is usual with teenagers, she could not be bothered. I believe that she enamored with the "romance" of band photography and not so much with the reality of the job. I tell her that if she really wanted to be a photographer she would have a camera with her at all times and film to go in it but she can't be bothered. I love her dearly but she drives me crazy

 

[Christopher Walrath]

PM Rob Skeoch.

 

[nyoung]

Get a degree that will help you understand the world you live in - History, English Literature, Political Science - not journalism or sociology. Take lots of English courses - not journalism - and learn how to tell a story. That's the skill they can't replace with a machine. THEN, play, play, play with all the computers, digi cameras, and video thing-a-ma-bobs you can get your hands on. The technology changes so quickly now its more important to be able to pick up new stuff quickly than to know eveything there is to know about anything.

 

[tkamiya]

I want my children to do what they enjoy and enjoy what they do meaning that if they have an interest and they can pursue it as a career they will be much happier than I am.

Just a note from someone who has done this....

My childhood hobbies were electronics and ham radio. My first part-time job was selling ham radio equipment and my first job was an electronics technician assisting an engineer. I sort of grew into computer field at its infancy and later became IT tech/management. Then I got much more interested into it and support technician then to a programmer.

Not that I don't enjoy my job and I do. Not that there is anything else I'd rather be doing for my job. One thing I miss A LOT is having a hobby and enjoying it for the heck of it. If you notice, anything and everything I enjoyed became my job. As soon as something becomes a job, all the fun part of the field goes out the picture. In a sense, one loses a hobby.

Something to think about....

I actually started film photography BECAUSE digital photography is so much like my job. I still do it because it isn't my job but analog has nothing to do with computers. (other than being on APUG.... )

As you talk to your daughter about her choice of future career, I'd appreciate it if you keep this in back of your mind.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

You are much more eloquent

Get a degree that will help you understand the world you live in - History, English Literature, Political Science - not journalism or sociology. Take lots of English courses - not journalism - and learn how to tell a story. That's the skill they can't replace with a machine. THEN, play, play, play with all the computers, digi cameras, and video thing-a-ma-bobs you can get your hands on. The technology changes so quickly now its more important to be able to pick up new stuff quickly than to know eveything there is to know about anything.

You put into words what I was thinking. A lot of documentary photogs are great because they are engaged in the world. They see human endeavors with a special eye. To develop those sensitivities, they must know something about the world and human nature. One does this by having a broad based education. Yes technology will always change. A sharp intellect and a sensitive eye will serve one for a life time.

 

[Grif]

Just a note from someone who has done this....

My childhood hobbies were electronics and ham radio. One thing I miss A LOT is having a hobby and enjoying it for the heck of it. If you notice, anything and everything I enjoyed became my job. As soon as something becomes a job, all the fun part of the field goes out the picture. In a sense, one loses a hobby.

Something to think about....

You've been reading my diary ;-) Ham, electronics, but I did photography in the 60's, then into microfilm, then into microfilm equipment, computers, electronics, programming, and now an IT supervisor.

I've wrecked almost every good hobby I've had moving into the job market. It's been long enough, I'm back into analog film and hollowstate electronics now, just treat computers as a tool at home.

There's been a couple of well thought out comments that better said my thoughts when I made the comment about what folks do at 40 years old vs what they were trained to do. Lots of really good observations and advice.

College/school has the opportunity to teach you some basics, math, language, and how to learn. The big one, and one that was not taught when I was in school,,, is how to learn a new trick on your own. Politically correct plagiarism is a skill that will never let you down. (OK,,, research, home work, citations and so on;-)

 

[David Brown]

I really don't wish to come off as a total creep, but how does someone (including a high school student) decide they want to be something when they do not know:

An explanation of what the occupation consists of.
What is needed to become a photographer?
What sort of background is needed?
what is the estimated job outlook and earnings expected to make in this field.

When I was in high school, I wanted to be a lawyer. I knew no more about that profession than this young budding photojournalist. Why did I want to be a lawyer? Perry Mason.

Once I did what this young lady is doing (only I did the research myself, I couldn't ask online) and discovered what lawyers really do, I lost the desire.

Seriously - good luck with your ambition. I do applaud you for looking into it at this stage. There are a lot of teenagers that see only the glamour image of a profession (Perry Mason, "band" photographer, etc.) and don't really know what the job is in real life. Hang in there!

 

[DWThomas]

No inside knowledge here, but another suggestion would be to keep an eye open for a school that has some sort of program to get into internships in the proposed profession, ideally as early as possible. In my extended family I have recently seen a niece go through three years of hotel and restaurant management. Then after a six week summer internship working in the back kitchen at a local upscale restaurant she decided maybe that wasn't her field. I do think it's hard for someone 16 or 17 to decided what many of these jobs really are going to be like once they are in them (heck, it happens to fifty year olds!)

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

My generation was the show "Lou Grant"

I really don't wish to come off as a total creep, but how does someone (including a high school student) decide they want to be something when they do not know:


When I was in high school, I wanted to be a lawyer. I knew no more about that profession than this young budding photojournalist. Why did I want to be a lawyer? Perry Mason.

Once I did what this young lady is doing (only I did the research myself, I couldn't ask online) and discovered what lawyers really do, I lost the desire.

Seriously - good luck with your ambition. I do applaud you for looking into it at this stage. There are a lot of teenagers that see only the glamour image of a profession (Perry Mason, "band" photographer, etc.) and don't really know what the job is in real life. Hang in there!

My generation was the TV show "Lou Grant". A lot of men of my generation, now approaching 50, wanted to be like "Animal" the photojournalist. It inspired a bunch of young kids to be newspaper photographers. When I was in photo school, out of the hundreds and hundreds of students, only a handful had careers in photojournalism. It was tough 25 years ago and way tougher now. Only the most dedicated and talented will make it. I got my feet wet shooting for the college paper. I didn't have the temperament for it.

 

[guitstik]

When my wife and I were married, over 20 years ago, I was attending art college and I was making a living doing architectural photography, a few portraits and selling art prints in a Gallery. After our first child was born my wife informed me that I had to make a more substantial living than the hit or miss that photography offered. I had not done any real photography for 18 years until my daughter expressed an interest in it about 8 months ago. Whether or not she does anything with it, I owe her (don't tell her that) for getting ME back into something that I love.

As far as my daughter, I think that she is more enamored with the perceived romance of band photography. She doesn't really understand what it means to make a living at photography. I have tried to explain to her that she really needs to look at doing other types of photography to supplement the band photography unless she can get a job with a major label or a magazine. Fortunately a friend of mine knows a successful band photographer that does work for a major label and I have tried to get her to talk to him, no go so far.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

I was a commercial shooter in a small town. Although I had steady clients, I was barely making a living and wanted a health care and a steady income. I switch over to IT over 10 years ago and never looked back. I just shoot for the joy of it and I'm having much more fun.

 

[tkamiya]

I think - it would be nearly impossible to teach 16 year old the difference between passion and practicality without causing him/her to entirely lose interest in the process. Most 16 year olds simply don't have enough life experience and maturity to consider all the implications. In some ways, at their age they shouldn't be all that concerned with all the nouances of "maintaining the right balance" in their lives.

I *think* the best advise anyone can give is to direct them in such a way that knowledge and skills they gain are usable in more ways than just one. Skills to observe, skills to be patient, skills to think independently, not to mention skills to write, read, listen, etc, etc, etc are invaluable. Maybe encourage her to pursue this goal.... then along the way, steer her into directions that can be useful to this goal as well as others so she can fall back on it if she has to.

Yeah, maybe her interest will change too. I know mine did.

 

[Ken Nadvornick]

Has she had any prior experience in photojournalism?

If not, then perhaps she would benefit from beginning right now. Rather than hoping and waiting to convince someone to accept her into an academic program or apprenticeship, just begin the journey by taking the first step on her own initiative.

Now days it's easy to self-publish anything on the web. Perhaps she should look around her for a few interesting human interest stories just waiting to be told. Something she feels passionately about. Then pick one and start telling that story as a self-assigned project. It might be band related, or it might not.*

She will discover very quickly the demands of the process. It will be hard work. She'll experience successes and failures. It will become far more than just clicking the shutter. She'll need to do research. She'll need to explain herself to strangers - and convince them to give access and cooperation. She'll learn to change direction when the story turns out to be something different than she had at first thought. She'll have to fight to produce something of interest and lasting quality.

And after all that, she'll learn to boil down her raw material - both images and the written word - into a coherent presentation. Then create and present an online layout that communicates what she wants to say to her audience. And finally, listen carefully to that audience's reactions, both good and bad.

When finished she should be in a much better position to decide for herself if this is a direction she wishes to follow. At best she'll have found a calling and have something significant to show a prospective school or employer. And at worst she will have simply discovered that it's not the life for her, thus allowing her to move on.

Ken

* There are stories everywhere just waiting to be told. Just off the top of my head, how many times has she seen those impromptu side-of-the-road memorials commemorating past automobile accidents? Often they have small, family-placed crosses, some flowers, and maybe a flag or candle - and a name. There must be 50+ in my county alone. Each of these is a story waiting to be told in both pictures and words. Taken together those individual stories might make a very interesting photojournalism project, I would think.

 

[Colin Corneau]

she is more enamored with the perceived romance of band photography.

Yeah...the romance of dealing with shifty, dodgy types who'll take images, use them without permission and pay squat (if anything at all).

Message to the daughter: there's a big difference between hanging out with a band and working with a band. By all means - hang out, have fun, enjoy the tunes. Maybe take a picture or two, why not. But if you get the urge to knock your head against a brick wall, flush money down the toilet and have people disrespect/steal/lie about your hard-won images, there's surely a better way than by getting bands mixed up in it.

 

[Grif]

Local Paper Entertainment Section

So,,, why not offer the local small newspaper a short article and a couple of pics of a band coming to town in a week or two?

We're in a town of 60K, with several small winerys with bands on the weekends. A few pic's, small writeup, and a follow up writeup afterwords might get your foot in the door. Might even get the winery (or whatever) to get in the habit of using you.

 

[darkroom_rookie]

Harold Evans' "Pictures on a page" is an excellent book on the subject.

 

[benjiboy]

Give her time, she'll grow out of it.

 

[Grif]

Yeah...the romance of dealing with shifty, dodgy types who'll take images, use them without permission and pay squat (if anything at all).

Yea,,, you've never seen sleazy till you've done a horse show. Good experience, kept photography as a hobby ;-)

 

[removed account4]

Yeah...the romance of dealing with shifty, dodgy types who'll take images, use them without permission and pay squat (if anything at all).

Message to the daughter: there's a big difference between hanging out with a band and working with a band. By all means - hang out, have fun, enjoy the tunes. Maybe take a picture or two, why not. But if you get the urge to knock your head against a brick wall, flush money down the toilet and have people disrespect/steal/lie about your hard-won images, there's surely a better way than by getting bands mixed up in it.

i shot a band early this past summer.
i gave them the images for free
and they gave me a cd and stickers ...
i get the by-line and a mention in the liner notes.

sometimes you just gotta realize bands are broke
and its kind of fun just to give stuff away ...
its like doing the wedding for a friend at.

i wouldn't try to make a living out of that though.

 

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

I am member of all cinematography lists , forums I have ever found and everyone is talking about how they paid 45000 to RED camera or is 20000 dollars is good for russian optics.
I think obtaining a cinema cameraman degree can carry her to Hollywood , Bollywood , Hong Kong Cinema. I think film retouching , effects creating is another branch and if some university teach that stuff , there is no hunger.
My university friend got Nuclear Engineering degree than Architecture degree and become foremost Video Jockey . All he does is to find programmers for processing software and than copy paste MIT ideas and make a short animation. This is another way to tell with visuals.
If she wants to write her story , linguistics is another branch to study for but she can find herself as a high school teacher at the end.
I think BEST way to obtain money from visuals is to join hollywood 3D cinema hardware , software expert courses. It is no ending investment on learning new softwares , hardwares courses but great fun.
So engineering , electrical or electronics can make her boat safe
I think send her to a 3D movie and ask her does she want to the same
Photographing , portrait work for famous peoples is another branch
I think sending her to psychologist can help her to thinking wiser.

Umut

 

[rolleiman]

Assignment due in by December??......If only all photojournalists had that amount of time to complete an assignment!!!!.

Lesson 1. Editors always want your pictures in by yesterday!

I echo the above comments re. video rather than stills being desired. you have to understand that the printed media is dying, and the demand is now for web based material. For this medium, video clips are preferred. they can always grab a still frame from that if needed, unlike in the printed media, the stills quality doesn't have to be that good.

You say your daughter wants to photograph bands etc.?...I don't know what the situation is there, but here in the UK, the paparazzi mob have that area sewn up for themselves.

The pay within the profession here (in UK) used to be good, but now it is not, you'd earn more as a bus driver!....The reason being, there are simply too many trying to get on the bandwagon, and the powers that be take advantage of that. I'm afraid the onset of digital has "de-skilled" the profession...i.e. you no longer need to be techically proficient in photographic technique to get an "acceptable" result.

I tend to agree with the previous comment to "point your daughter in a different direction".....The competition is fierce in a rapidly dwindling market.

 

[rolleiman]

Harold Evans' "Pictures on a page" is an excellent book on the subject.

This was a superb book on the subject in its day. Problem is "its day", was the pre-digital 1970's, when photojournalism was still a major influence, in the world of newspapers.

Sadly, this is no longer the case today.