- This topic is empty.
A Career in Photography
-
Hi all,
I have been a semi-serious photography enthusiast since childhood but recently have been getting more into it. I was made redundant a few months back and started thinking of a career change and mostly persuing a career in photography, ideally one day photographing conflict zones and its effects on people. I have also inherrited a fairly sophisticated camera and hope to put a portfolio together and hopefully have it done in time to get a place on a course through CAO as a mature student(im 24.)
I was just wondering if anyone working in the field or any type of photography background would have any advice – like am i too old to start now or is there many jobs available if I did graduate?
Any feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks
I can’t offer specific advice about professional photography, but I certainly hope that at 24 you don’t feel you’re too old to start anything! :)
i two cant offer much advice, but a i have a link here to http://digital-photography-school.com/ lots of info here.
and your never to old, i am 36 and been doing photography for 1 year scene i was put on a 3 day week,phillip
Like everyone else I can’t offer too much advice but only to say you wont be too old for a life in photography. Your problem will be getting a job when you finish college, it’ll be a labour of love for you I’m sure.
Not too many jobs going in this field, or any other at the moment and photo journalism is usually a fairly closed shop. That is not to say it cannot be done though, and who knows what the future may bring. Only the other day, the role of the court photographer at the four courts was basically wiped out by prisoners being brought in underground before being taken out of the prison van. I’d say, stick with it as a “career possibility”, but don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Build up your experience & portfolio & in time you could get the break you are looking for. In ten years time, you might have a completely different goal. You are young & you do have time on your side.
Mother of god man..too old…I would love to be your age again…I was made redundant from Waterford Crystal
(without a redundancy)this time last year after working there for over 30 years and in the last 6 months I have
gone full-time into photography…..mind you, I had been taking photos for all the time I worked in the Crystal
factory and had a good portfolio built up but you have years ahead of you yet to make a go of this. The type
of photography you are hoping to go into is a fairly narrow field and I am sure you would have to be accredited
with a magazine or newspaper to get into any conflict zones around the world.
Are you interested in other types of photography at all ?…the reason I ask is that you could get a portfolio built
up doing other types of photos over the next few years if you decide to go back to college, which is a good idea for
someone still so young.
I started sending photos into the local papers a few years ago and its finally paid off as I have now been offered
some work from one of them on a regular basis because of the fact that I was a regular contributor over the years.
To give you specific feedback or advice on the type of photography you want to pursue is hard because not many
here would have any experiance of this but mabye you should think of contacting some of the correspondents
that make this their life work about how they got started in it…lots have their own websites and I am certain if
you got in contact thet they would reply to you and give some advice….again..as for being too old…get out there
and never think like that again…you have your whole life ahead of you…use it wisely and I hope things work out
for you….acually…I hope they work out for me as well ??Noel Browne.
Just an additional thought. Get involved with Irish international charities such as RED CROSS, GOAL, TROCHAIRE etc. They go into areas such as conflict, disaster zones & may require a person with photography skills to highlight the situation (on the ground), but they would also require people with special skills such as engineering, logistical,medical etc
Also you would need to be prepared (and able) to face some gruesome scenes /tasks and be able to put your personal feelings aside. I experienced this in the early ’80s & personally would not like to experience it again.Salgado was an economist before becoming a photographer, and that didn’t happen until he was in his mid-30s. I personally know people who’ve switched careers “late”, like a very good engineer who became an excellent doctor in his late 50s, so it’s really never too late, it just totally depends on you.
As many will tell you, there’s no specific or clear way to become a photographer in conflict zones: some spent most of their savings to go on their own in Bosnia or Congo (like Marcus Bleasdale did) and their career is born (though the statistics of photojournalists being killed on their first assignment in conflict areas are scary), others start working for NGOs or small newspapers and move on from that.
As far as advices go, I’d say: work on your craft, work on your vision, develop your storytelling skills, learn as much as you can about the areas where you’d like to go, the geo-political situation, read “photojournalism:the professional’s approach” by Kenneth Kobré and other books on the subject, do a lot of research online, get in touch with local NGOs, hear what others have to say, if you find a photograhper whose work you admire try to get in touch with him/her and ask him/her honest questions, there are good chances you’ll get honest answers.
As miki g said, photojournalism is probably harder to get in these days, but that doesn’t mean there’s no room for new talented people with something to say and with a unique style of their own. It was never easy, and perhaps now it’s even less than that, but if you look online there are dozens of reportages being made and published every week, no matter what people say about the death of newspapers and journalism.
You have to be sure a) that you absolutely want to do it, b) that you’re well aware of the huge sacrifices you’ll have to deal with, and c) that persistence, along with talent and your personal vision, is fundamental.Thanks very much for all your feedback, I didnt expect so much! I will definitly look into all of the advice and tips you have suggested and am looking forwrd to it. Thanks again
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
