On Being A Professional Photogapher...Tell us your story, please...

Hi Roger
I'm working as stage manager in a concerthouse and also do parttime take pictures for it!
Next orchestra will be Cleveland, then Vienna, San Francisco and many more!
We are in the middle of a big music festival see it here:
http://www.kkl-luzern.ch/navigation/top_nav_items/culture/Programmuebersicht/default.htm
Have a good time!

I found that I had an aptitude for photography early on at perhaps 6 when I got to use my dad's Argus C3. I continued to take some photos as I got older, but that wasn't where I thought that I was headed. I went to college and then grad school to become a paleontologist, geologist initially. I decided that I would rather eat than starve and received my first grad degree in Zoology with an emphasis in Ecology to work as an Ecologist. During my time in Grad school, I became more interested and involved in photography becoming a staff photographer for my college yearbook and college newspaper. Eventually I became chief photographer for the newspaper. I was unable to get hired in the environmental field back in 1980 (collapse of the field).

So back to grad school I went to get a grad degree in Geology to work in the oil industry. Wouldn't you know it but the bottom dropped out of the market while in school. In any case graduated with a Grad Degree in Geology in 1987. During this time period I also worked for the Newark Museum as a science docent for 5 years and also for Cyprus Minerals doing lab research. Also continued to take photos and improve. I had my first solo exhibit in 1987. I became a member of my photo club and eventually rose through all the officers to President between 1987 and 1995. When I got out of school I worked for 2 environmental firms for about 8 years and continued my interest in photography photographing primarily landscape and wildlife work including taking many photos at the Bronx Zoo. While at the Bronx Zoo one day in 1988 I ran into the head of a small stock agency. We talked and made arrangements to bring work for review. The stock Agency decided to represent my work from that time onward though I never supplied that much work. Some of the work has been used in Czechoslovachia and used presumably as an advertising campaign in Hong Kong because of the size of the payment as well as the White Tiger (one photo of which is in my gallery) and has been in the Microsoft Encarta since its inception. I used to take extended vacations and comp time during the time as well as on weekends that I worked as an Environmental consultant and started building a library of images.

Additionally, I had taken a number of workshops with some well known photographers including Dewitt Jones. During the time I was working in the environmental field as a geologist and a biologist/ecologist I got hit by a car while riding my bicycle in 1993. Needless to say the bicycle was totalled and I almost was. I suffered 2 broken wrists, several broken ribs, broken nose, lots of road rash. I had to be put back together with several surgeries including a permanent plate in the right shattered wrist and and an external fixator which was later removed from the left wrist. I was in the hospital for 10 days, out of work for 10 weeks and had 19 weeks of occupational and physical therapy. The accident made me really re-evaluate my life. I had wanted to become a pro photographer for some time this just made me want to do it as soon as possible. After I went back to work for the next year and a half or so I was relegated to work as a health and safety officer for several sites for our clients because my employer was concerned about my recovery and my health. I continued to take photos and to build my Library of images including those from Yellowstone, Grand Teton NP, Utah, etc.

Finally I got back to working as a Geologist but, my job was terminated finally. I took advantage of the situation and started having quite a number of exhibits of my work by invitation including one in NYC. I took additional workshops in 1995 in Utah and Colorado in 1996. We finally settled out of court for the accident and my injuries. Some of this settlement was used as seed money for what has become my Fine Art Photography Business. I have been participating selling Fine Art photos primarily Nature, Landscape, and Wildlife since 1996/1997.

Rich

Les McLean said:

My life in photography started as a part time rock musician in the 50's who was a coal miner by day...

Click to expand...

Hi Les,

Which pit?

Thanks,
Helen

sort of a long story ... (sorry)


i got my first camera at 5 or 6 and have been taking photographs ever since. it was one of those mickey mouse cameras that you pulled the ear down and it tripped the shutter. i wish i still had it, but alas a neighbor got it at a garage sale when i was about 7 or 8. i took classes in black and white through high school and 7 semesters in college, and started doing pretty much what i am doing today - doing weird abstractions, making portraits, photographing buildings, and archaeological ruins ( and making hand stitched books). i didn't think i would be doing this way back then ( 80s ) and had studied to become an architect and go to architecture school, but realized that i can't draw if my life depended on it so that pretty much was out of the question.

after college, i thought maybe photography was going to work afterall, and soon i became an assistant to a few of the local photographers - one commercial guy, and one architecture guy. the commercial guy was kind of spent from his daze in the 60s and eventually we parted ways, and the architecture guy sort of ran out of work so i didn't get to many calls after a while. eventually i landed a job assisting a portrait photographer trained in the 1930s. she hired me to do all of her processing and printing, and taught me retouching ( with leads on an adams machine ) and from time to time i was squeezing the bulb of the packard shutter. she still shot 5x7 film and when she wasn't doing formal/informal headshots for pr agents, she was doing karsh-esque portraits. ( some folks used to call her the karsh of rhode island ). working for her i learned more in 10 months than i did loading hassy backs and setting up lights, and seeing the 5x7 film, retouching it, and printing it made me want to buy a speed graphic, and not use my yashica that i had been using. we had a parting of the ways after a while ( i lasted longer than any assistant before me <except her mom!> so i don't feel bad )

soon thought about what i was going to do and thought that maybe photography was going to be more of a secondary thing for me, not a career. i eventually went back to school and got a degree in preservation planning and got a job with a cultural resource planning firm doing historic preservation kind of work. i had originally thought that the preservation work was going to free me up to do photography. little did i know that i was going to be doing photography work instead. after a few years there were problems where i was working, and i decided rather than waiting to be fired, i would go off on my own, and maybe do the same sort of thing - preservation planning and photography. turns out there were fewer than no jobs for someone with no contacts, so i decided the heck with the preservation part, i would do photography again and market myself to preservation people. so i did just that. i also schlepped my work around to galleries too ( still making weird abstracts &C ) and eventually got tired of galleries telling me my photographs were not photographs but something else and "this is art" (pointing to a pile of debris on the floor) ... so with a bunch of artists ran an art gallery outside of boston. i figured it would be a good place to make contacts, show my work and maybe get my name out there. by this time, i had experience shooting for a newspapers and magazines, i had done commercial and architectural jobs and several years worth of preservation-oriented photography.

the gallery didn't lead to any work, but it was a good time, until the place was overrun by chaos --- i got out before it was too late. the whole place collapsed, and imploded and eventually became a bike shop. i still pursued my photography, and at this point i was broke. i lived+worked in a cheep loft, had a little studio/shooting space and a darkroom and i worked and worked at the part time job, took photo jobs on the side. i didn't make much money but eventually got married, moved and continued with the photography. i didn't move far, and the clients i picked up in the boston kept me on, so i travelled a little bit. i worked again for a newspaper, and after a few more years, photographed lots of interesting people (politicos, indian chiefs, supreme court justices, ceo-s, factory owners+workers), and started doing magazine work too. after a while i was "downsized"(at the paper), and am back to doing piecemeal work.

it is kind of a love hate relationship working as a photographer. you love the work, and it is great when it is there, and you get paid, but there is always the "what if ... a client tells me the signed contract is in the mail, you will start in 2 days, and the contract never arrives and the client vanishes (and you bought all your materials as you were told to do)", "what if ... the evil client takes all your work and doesn't pay for it "

... lots of what ifs ... and they do happen--and sometimes you just hope "the next one" isn't like "the last one" sort of thing

... sometimes scary, lots of fun, and as i said, love-hate ...

blansky said:

Actually it's homegrown because I've never read any of them.

Sorry for the confusion.



Michael

Click to expand...

Now THAT's frightening

Roger Hicks said:

Dear Suzanne,

Professionally, you are are incontestably right -- though the writers' work was still likely to be grammatical and correctly spelled, even when lacking in brilliance or focus.

But a lot of amateurs judge themselves by their lucky flukes, and imagine that being a pro ain't as difficult as it is.

Cheers,

Roger.

Click to expand...

Roger,

Have you read many US news magazines? It's scary what gets past the copy editors and fact checkers, if any.

Bruce

This is a great thread. It is amazing how many different paths people take to get them to their station. I’ve really been enjoying all the stories and feel like jumping in. Do I do the edited version? Or do I simply go with the Cliff’s Notes? Hmmm… Where to begin…

I had a Great Grandfather who owned one of the early portrait photography studios in Detroit. I’m not sure how early, but I have found a page in a city directory from the 1890’s with his studio address. Anyway, from this my Dad and his brothers had intense and varied interests in photography as well as all the gear to go with. Photography was just part of the family to me. One of my earlier memories was of this huge and fascinating contraption in my Uncle’s basement… a 4x5 enlarger. Needless to say it all stuck.

By age 12, I was mixing my own chemicals, processing my film and contact printing. (Still have the box). When finally in high school I was offered photography as an elective, I jumped at it. School paper and yearbook were next, then weekly newspapers when I got a driver’s license. I was like Les... there were literally thousands of little prints and tearsheets everywhere. (Unfortunately, I still have many of them as well!)

From there it was to college and the BFA, but not before dropping out for a stint in New York as an assistant. I had met a great photographer whom I had admired that had been brought to America from Ireland by none other than Richard Avedon in the early 60’s to assist. That was at a Fred Picker workshop in 1981. We hit it off and he invited me to come to NY and assist and print for him. I was gone in a second! New York offered a wonderful substitute for school and I learned more that year about photography and the business of it than any other period of my life. New York wasn’t for me though and I returned here to Michigan, finished school and built my own corporate/editorial business doing magazine and annual report work for the next 20 or so years. Oh yes… and A LOT of rock and roll work. How could I forget all that mess!

Like many of you, my personal work was what I was most interested in. I had been lucky enough in my high school years to have nearby one of the oldest photography galleries in the country… The Halsted Gallery. It gave me an appreciation of the greats and made me believe there was more to photography than the usual. I visited often and THAT is what I truly wanted to do. All the commercial work has been done with the idea it would fund my personal aspirations of being a “gallery” photographer. That was harder than I thought as it turns out. It is extremely hard to do both, but I kept the dream alive until finally getting the guts to take my work to Halsted. I was told they “didn’t handle local photographers” and that all my years as a commercial photographer meant nothing in the “fine art” world. I kept at it though and they finally took me on a temporary basis. Later that year, in New York, they sold the first print. It all got better from there and thankfully, has grown and expanded ever since. So far I have been very fortunate in being able to make the change to my more personal work, though I still do the occasional commercial job for old clients. Always hard to close the door on good money after struggling for so long! To this day it is hard for me to turn down a job.

Thanks for bearing with me if you made it this far! Sorry to be so long winded, but it was a good mind exercise to figure out just how I got here.

Keep up the stories!

Bill

jovo said:

If nothing else works out for you, Michael, consider a second career as a motivational speaker.

Click to expand...

...and live in a van down by the river.

As Paul Harvey says here is "The rest of the story"

Dead Link Removed

Also read;"These are terrible, horrible, no good, get them out of my sight!"

Dead Link Removed

Helen B said:

Hi Les,

Which pit?

Thanks,
Helen

Click to expand...

Helen, I worked underground at Lynemouth Colliery for 5 years. When will you next be in Wooler?

My old man is a tech/camera/computer nerd, and always had cameras laying around the house, which I adopted over the years. Just messed around with.

I studied my first love, Literature, with plans of racing bicycles professionally after words.

My knees fell apart though.

Then photography sort of picked me.

I was a part of a small photo show, got some small odd gigs which sealed the deal. Then bumped into an incredible still life shooter I assisted for 2.5 years. Learned a lot there, and was able to do a lot of experimenting and make good money.

Moved to NYC to give the top a try, and that's were I'm at now. Shooting fashion and portraiture and the odd weddings. Actually just shot my first celebrity tear last week, which I was excited about.

I'm 26. For the most part I don't feel like I know anything. Having fun though.

Except I'm always broke and breaking gear.

Enjoying the stories - makes great reading.

billschwab said:

...Thanks for bearing with me if you made it this far! Sorry to be so long winded, but it was a good mind exercise to figure out just how I got here.

Keep up the stories!

Bill

Click to expand...

Hmmm Bill. If I'd known you were that famous I would have swapped a print.

My comments about my career on the Dorothy Blum Cooper thread were about the conundrum one faces regarding doing commercial assignments versus doing only personal work. I've had two careers as a photographer, the first being 25 years as an advertising/editorial photographer and the second current career as an "art" photographer.

I had an interest in photography and sculpture during my high school years. In my last semester I enrolled in an internship program where I assisted 4 NYC advertising and editorial photographers who shared a studio. I continued to assist them and other photographers in the summer leading to my enrollment as a photography major at the School of Visual Arts in NYC, and while attending classes. I found that I was learning far more by assisting than by going to school. So in my second year at SVA I dropped out to assist (only to find myself back at SVA 6 years later as an instructor). I also continued to work on my personal photography and had my first NYC solo show at the now long gone Third Eye Gallery, I was 18. That would be he last solo show of my work for 25 years.

During this time I was also shooting assignments for the Village Voice, back when it was more of a real newspaper. I was continually assisting, mostly freelance which provided me with the broadest education having had the opportunity to work with many skilled, and some highly acclaimed photographers. I learned what it meant to be a professional from them. I was also bringing my portfolio to magazines and at 19 got my first magazine assignment, shooting B&W urban landscapes for NY Magazine. A few months later I shot my first national magazine cover, a color urban landscape for Saturday Review Magazine, followed 6 months later by a second cover for them.

I was getting more and more assignments to shoot and having less and less time available as an assistant so at age 20 I became a shooter full time. By age 21 I took a studio share on Fifth Ave. I didn't think much would come of it but it would be an opportunity to work on my portfolio. I didn't think I'd last six months and I was right because after 3 months, the guy who's studio it was felt the studio wasn't large enough for 2 photographers shooting so many jobs. I then got my own studio, 2000 square feet off of fifth ave on 24th street. (btw this is where I first met Bill Schwab) When I signed the lease I was terrified, I had never made such a large financial commitment in my life. My days of shooting my personal work were now over, I had a substantial monthly nut. My focus would be commercial work.

Fast forward 20 years, 2 more far larger studios, a few thousand assignments and my mid life re-examination. I turn 40 and realize that for the last 20 years I have not used a camera unless I was being paid. So in 1998 I decide to try my hand at some southwestern landscape and I make a few trips out west. In 2000 my wife suggests that I join a local co-op gallery and show my landscape work. I figure that it will at least give me a reason to print my work but I had little expectation when it came to sales or public reaction. My second solo show, with the 25 year pause in between, opens in april of 2001. (btw I met John "Jovo" Voss in person here) The reaction and sales shock me. People, total strangers are buying my work, a lot of it. Nearly selling out all the images, with some images selling 3-4 times, and at $500 a print and no expenses I'm making money that is hard to ignore. So while my show is on going and feeling emboldened I take my portfolio to some galleries in Manhattan. Two galleries express serious interest and want me to come back for additional meetings, the third gallery offers me representation on the spot. By the end of the week my work is on the walls of the Edward Carter Gallery, hanging contently between prints by Ansel Adams. This is the end of one career and the beginning of another. In late 2002 I officially close my NYC studio.

jovo gets a gold star for this thread

Murray

DBP said:

Roger,

Have you read many US news magazines? It's scary what gets past the copy editors and fact checkers, if any.

Bruce

Click to expand...

Dear Bruce,

Oh, dear. I have to admit I haven't read many in years. I think I may have lost this argument...

Cheers,

Roger

I want to know how Jovo became a big fiddle player.

I decided a while go that I wouldn't want to become a pro, (regardless of the fact that I don't have the ability to do so). I've come to the conclusion that no matter how much one enjoys their craft - whatever it is - it becomes a Job. A Job is something you feel you have to do to bring home the bacon and keep a roof over you & your family, whether you want to or not. I'd much rather keep snapping away as an amateur, looking forward to the day when I can kick the kids out, sell the house and spend whatever time I've got left doing what *I* want to do, mainly photography and travelling; with the odd bit of beer drinking thrown in.

I'm aware that there are some lucky people who always enjoy their work, some of them are even pro photographers, but sadly for most us it's now just a Job.

Dear Mark,

Do you know the story of the man who got a backstage job at Le Crazy Horse (the same story used to be told of the Folies Bergere).

The first month was heaven.

The second month was hell.

After that, it was just a job.

Cheers,

Roger

Roger Hicks said:

Dear Mark,

Do you know the story of the man who got a backstage job at Le Crazy Horse (the same story used to be told of the Folies Bergere).

The first month was heaven.

The second month was hell.

After that, it was just a job.

Cheers,

Roger

Click to expand...

I believe this was the guy who was once talking to a friend about his job and said "The money's not much, only 50 francs a week, but it's all I can afford!"

This joke is a certified British chestnut and is at least 80 years old!

df cardwell said:

I want to know how Jovo became a big fiddle player.

Click to expand...

Huh? Take another look. I'm only 64 pixels high.

It's been a real treat to read these tales so far. I'm glad so many have been willing to share. I know there are more of you...let's hear your actual confessions so we can dispense with the rumors and inuendos

I started shooting at 11 years old and had my first darkroom at 12. To learn more I went to work for a photographer as a darkroom tech at 14. I have been working in photography full or part time ever since with one break from 93 to 98. In high school I never had to say "would you like fries with that?". It was a great job. 30+years, 50 states, 20 countries, Tens of thousands of images, 50+ cameras, two studios and four darkrooms. It's been a hell of a ride.

John McCallum said:

Hmmm Bill. If I'd known you were that famous I would have swapped a print.

Click to expand...

Ha!!! Just a hair on a gnat's ass. As I always say... If only the bank account matched the "fame"!!! Nothing but lucky... It's ALL about luck. You just try to put yourself in the right place and keep your eyes peeled ...and be ever grateful to those that collect your work.

Bill

I don't feel I can ad much here so will keep it brief. I've always had an artistic streak over many years and "Professionally" I started working as a photographer in August 2004. I woke up one day and realised I'd already already been doing what I love most and quit my day job to concentrate fully on my photography. All I can say is it's been an incredible journey and things have moved very fast for me. I'm very grateful for the opportunities that have come my way. Regardless of cliche's or opinions, my goal is to tell the child's story. But... all this comes at a price. Passion and obsession, endless hours and ongoing dedication... does take it's toll on many areas in one's life.

For a little more info I'll ad these links.

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)
Dead Link Removed

Nicole said:

Passion and obsession, endless hours and ongoing dedication... does take it's toll on many areas in one's life.

Click to expand...

Isn't that the truth? Puts a lot on hold too. 2 years Nicole? You're kicking butt!

Good job,

Bill

billschwab said:

Ha!!! Just a hair on a gnat's ass. As I always say... If only the bank account matched the "fame"!!! Nothing but lucky... It's ALL about luck. You just try to put yourself in the right place and keep your eyes peeled ...and be ever grateful to those that collect your work.

Bill

Click to expand...

Bill, I agree that luck is a factor, but it seems that those who are dedicated and put long and hard effort into their work seem to attract more luck than those who do not.