Question? (Summer Internships)

[ErinHilburn]

I didn't really know where to post this as I'm relatively new, but this was the closest thing I could come too. I'm a student photographer and this summer I have to intern. The issue is I live in Alabama and I really, really don't want to intern down at "Sally's Captured Moments" and other places of a similiar nature. I would really like to intern somewhere where I can learn something about the art of photography, not the art of school portraits (although I do understand it can be a necessary evil). I've searched the internet to no avail and so I thought I would inquire as to whether or not anyone here knew of a good place where I could learn something without having to move across the continent for a summer. Any suggestions would be helpful though.
Thanks,
Erin

 

[rbarker]

My suggestion, Erin, would be to think about what you want to gain from the summer intern experience, and how that will fit with your ultimate career goals (recognizing that current goals might change in the future). Although your local community might be limited to consumer portrait shops, there are larger metro areas in Alabama that may offer a wider choice. Once you move from your local area, however, you might as well move to an area that has what you are looking for. Remember, however, that there is both the technical side, and the business/practical side to the experience. Both are essential.

 

[jimgalli]

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

 

[Monophoto]

Erin -

Contact Andy Schmitt, director of the photography program at Peters Valley Craft Center, http://www.pvcrafts.org/ . He will be looking for an intern/studio assistant for next summer. The job doesn't pay very well, but it provides a great opportunity to experience a broad range of photographic activities (traditional, alternative, digital, portraiture and nude, large format), associate with some of the best photographers out there (Ernestine Ruben, Tillman Crane, et al), while living in a delightful and forgotten corner of New Jersey ("3/4 of the state is nice") with a group of other students who are very interested in arts and crafts activities (potters, jewelry makers, woodworkers, weavers, blacksmiths, etc).

By the way, you know that in a college commencement address several years ago, Bill Cosby defined "intern" to be the French term for "slave".

 

[photobum]

I was about to write and suggest Peter's Valley but Louie beat me to it. The intern last year never showed up for the first day. It's a chance to learn from some of the best in photography and a lot of other skills too. Plus you get to meet Monophoto and Photobum too. Now nothing could top that for a summer's education.

Don't be mislead by the Soprano's. It's country and your dorm would be...rustic.

 

[ErinHilburn]

Don't worry I'm from Alabama, nothing would surprise me as far as "rustic" conditions go. My mother didn't even having running water until she was fifteen. Her relatives make very interesting subjects.