Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/12/05

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Subject: [Leica] Making a living as a photographer
From: leicaslacker at gmail.com (kyle cassidy on the lug)
Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2010 23:58:28 -0500
References: <AANLkTinYoMfGo8AFraF9jmnT6=K39-oWtMa26JqX+Qi6@mail.gmail.com>, <DB8D8AB833DA40D3B7F0622AF30281F4@syneticfeba505> <4CFC1674.4309.22D1BB0@leica.rcmckee.com>

Oh, no, for sure. some photography is work.

Some of it's not bad work, some of it's decent work, some of it's good work, 
some of it, even, is Very Awesome work -- but some of it is 
loading-boxes-type hideous clock-watching work.

The "work" bit of it is often when someone who's not an art director has 
Very Specific Instructions for what they want.  And when it's made clear 
that you're the help, not the creative talent, it's work. And when you get 
allotted 60 seconds for a portrait from someone who will later complain they 
don't like any of the 16 photos you took, it's work.

But the same thick skin that gets you through gallery reviews is the same 
thick skin that reminds you that you don't need to put the cliched shots 
someone else came up with in your portfolio, and the things that Would Have 
Been Better Had They Listened To You -- you just take them and use the 
paycheck to fun the stuff that you want to be working on. 

As Kurt Vonnegut would say: "And so it goes."




On Dec 5, 2010, at 11:47 PM, R. Clayton McKee wrote:

> It's not the shooting part that's the "work." or the "job."  It's 
> dealing with the people who decide what's to be shot, and the ones 
> who pay for it.   THAT is way too much of "work."
> 
> 
> Still, it beats sitting behind a desk ALL the time.
> 
> 
> Quoth the tedgrant at shaw.ca :
> 
>> The terminology by some folks that photography is work is beyond my
>> comprehension, it's never been work!
>> 
> --
> 
> 
> R. Clayton McKee                           http://www.rcmckee.com
> Photojournalist                               rcmckee at rcmckee.com
> P O Box 571900                           voice/fax   713/783-3502
> Houston, TX 77257-1900                   cell phone #  on request
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information



Replies: Reply from mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner) ([Leica] Making a living as a photographer)
In reply to: Message from lrzeitlin at gmail.com (Lawrence Zeitlin) ([Leica] Making a living as a photographer)
Message from tedgrant at shaw.ca (tedgrant at shaw.ca) ([Leica] Making a living as a photographer)
Message from leica at rcmckee.com (R. Clayton McKee) ([Leica] Making a living as a photographer)