Early student years Rayogram.
copyright David Boulogne
Here continues a discussion I am having with a student from Leeds University (see article 1 December 2009). He said he wanted to become a wedding photographer. So I asked him few more questions, ...
Hi sorry for the late reply hope this is some use to you and I feel as though I might get slaughtered by you. Been busy with my dissertation I completely forgot about the questions at the end. Hope they are of some use to you and I would like to keep contact. As for my answers I can see some things which might not go down with you quite so nicely but then I ask you to remember that I am still looking for the right job and with time that might change. Thank you for your replies it was great help for me and probably saved me from a fail.
Hi Milot, I am glad you took some time to answer my questions. That is really appreciated.
I think you did the right thing by focusing on your dissertation first - that is your priority. I won’t “slaughter” you. There is no reason why I would do it. The aim of this exchange is to produce a dialogue that can be instructive to other people in the same situation. To give advice is not about showing off your superiority to younger generations, but to help you to raise the adequate questions to your concerns. In the end I will not give you any answer, it is up to you to find them. It’s like going to the therapist. But what I would like to say before commenting your replies is that you already did the right thing by asking for help and not being shy about it. That is a great strength that most people will see as a weakness. I personally see your attitude as something genuine and honest that can only be profitable to your knowledge and decisions in life. So, I would suggest you keep on doing it. There is nothing wrong with not knowing and asking for advice.
1) Why do you like Photography? I can’t really explain why, I just feel good when I take the money shot (the one image which makes the whole effort to getting it worthwhile). I also think that I am more of a visual person as I am horrible with names but I never forget a face it’s like I am taking images with my head all the time and when I pass locations I seem to have the story in my mind as a good play for a photograph.
Most people who chose to express themselves with creative medias have dyslexia, like I use to have. Not being able to communicate with words or figures you find your own way, and Photography is your way. It has been proven that almost 2/3 of art students are dyslexic. There is nothing wrong with that. We are just different and are able to transmit or deliver things differently, and societies need artists otherwise we would fall into conformism. Not knowing why you like it is not really an issue, but accepting yourself as different is vital. What bothers me in your comment is the notion of money. You haven’t started yet that you are already thinking money. If you really like Photography or arts in general, money comes secondary at your stage. To be genuinely an artist has nothing to do with money, fame or success. Today most aspiring artists should realise that Art is not a profession. Therefore they shouldn’t expect any financial reward from it. What we experience today is the antithesis of what I just said, unfortunately.
Being a professional photographer is something else than being just a photographer. It means you have to specialise and compromise. You will obviously be chosen for your style, but you will have to produce quality AND quantity combined, including formal needs required by the customers whether you like it or not. A lot of freelances make the mistake to think selfishly as artists do. To be a professional photographer is to deliver a service in an artistic way, nevertheless it is a service being paid by a customer who expects some standards, quality and surprises. Creativity usually comes across in the last part.
If you take fashion photography for example, the real time spent shooting with models represents 10% of the overall time spent on a commission. And if you are lucky you can estimate at 5% the creativity delivered. It is the same in all the industries I am afraid. If you expect to be paid you have to compromise. Any sort of job will teach you that fundamental. We call those medias creative but there are not really on the level you would expect I guess . To do real art works is something personal and solitary you have to cope with.
2) Why do you want to do Wedding Photography? I think that it would be the best job for me because people employ a photographer for the style of photography he or she do. Also not having someone telling you what they want from you through the whole process is nice because to me it’s all about the creativity of the photographer (when a person is doing something he or she likes in their own way they are bound to get the images they want, this probably satisfying the employer two as they will get exactly what they hired them to do).
I agree with you on that point, but before reaching that level of visibility and trust you need to gain skills. Too many young people want to be photographers and they do not really know why, maybe a sort of fame or fantasy world. It is not like that at all I am afraid. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of freelancers like to play that card, and people fancy that image too. To be a freelance photographer is a long lonely road where there is only you to be trusted. There is a lot of competition, lot of confusion and selfishness. First, if you want to become one I would advice you to take any kind of job on board. You will learn from everything and every commission will nourish the next one. The main problem when you are a student is the lack of experience, so run for it. Do food, interiors, baby, nudes, documentaries, anything and everything. After a while you will be able to decide what you don’t like. And therefore you interest is going to narrow, and then you will be able to specialize as we call it. Here again, do not take my words in a literal way. I do not really agree with the world of specialization we live in. I personally promote myself here as a wedding specialist but I do a very wide range of Photography, either paid or non-paid, because I am interested in a lot of things, and because I love experimenting and learning endlessly. So being specialized is finding a niche where you feel comfortable, good at delivering, and that’s your regular jog somehow. Then you can concentrate on various other photographic interests. Keep yourself alert constantly. My clients like my style because I am not traditional and because I put something else into my wedding photography. But still most of my clients expect me to deliver such and such formal pictures, that is the way it is. In the end you are being paid and commissioned to work for your clients, and it is a huge task especially with weddings. So it is a challenge but it is very exciting at the same time. The notion of “artistic” is very variable to be frank. A lot of people think my work is very artistic whereas I find it classic and stylistic. I am not doing Art with weddings, I try to get the right emotions with the right conditions in a reportage way. That is simply reportage I would say. Anyway to me working on a wedding or a demonstration is the same – it is a story. A lot of photographers are daydreaming and also see wedding photography as an office job where they can make a great deal of money. They have it completely wrong and you can tell when looking at their pictures. I am personally extremely happy to do the job I am doing whether it is doing weddings or something else. As long as I am doing photography the way I like it that’s what matters. But to reach that stage you have to respect your clients, to remain open to all the possibilities and to trust yourself that you can make it. It is a daily battle against the odds. And if you are ready for it you are welcomed on board! I have met and trained so many people who aspire to do photography and who gave up. To succeed is a natural selection like survival instinct. When I decided to enter the CFT Gobelins school I knew it was the right place for me. But the selection was very tight. It is not about paying the fee but about motivation and knowledge. There are only 15 positions allocated for students from around the world. If you manage to get in you obtain the best professional training in 2 years for free –which is very unusual and rewarding. So you expect that the 15 students are fully dedicated to become freelancers or working in the industry. 15 years later I can count on three fingers the people still evolving in the industry including myself. You have to ask yourself the following question: Is Photography a hobby or something you cannot live without?
3) Which works, artists or photographers do you like and why? Jerry Uelsmann is my favourite photographer. I love his work and creativity, his images are so well thought out and stunningly beautiful. His multiple negative images are not only visually challenging at times but the finish is stunning. I do create some of my own multiple negative images, some which are very similar to Uelsmanns work. I find that the dark room process is the way for me I like to feel the print instead of doing it on Photoshop which most of my peers at the college asked me. This brings me to the wedding photography aspect again as it would help me to travel to different locations, which would help improve my personal archive of images.
Thank you for passing the name of this “artist” I didn’t know. My first look at the website tells me that he has the skills, meaning the technical skills whether manual in the darkroom, or computer based with more recent works. Second thing is that the artist is very influenced by various sources from the late 19th Century and 20th Century, which makes sense looking at his date of birth. My third point is that he is more drawn towards illustration than Photography. On reading briefly his biography we learn his first job was being a teacher early stage. That sounds very strange to me. I believe you cannot be a teacher in your early twenties. So you have to learn how it is possible. Nevertheless he presents his Art in one unique way, his vision as a creative photomontage artist going from Surrealism to trendy Gothic / Spleen Baudelairian. I find the work nicely done but it is not my cup of tea, but that’s personal. I could suggest you look at Alexander Rodtchenko you may know, such as Man Ray, painter Rene Magritte of course and more recently multidisciplinary artist illustrator Dave McKean.
But what I would like to point out is that Jerry Uelsmann surely didn’t make a living out of his artworks until late. He must have had regular jobs, more concrete jobs such as teacher to have the freedom and the assets to produce his works. He may have been recognized not so long ago as his vision matched the illustrative art world we experience today and which really appeared in the 70’s with the rise of the sci-fi phenomenon. The work you like is more about photomontage which used to be done in a darkroom and which is produced more efficiently nowadays everywhere on a computer. It is a creation of fantasies which is completely different from real life photography. There is no problem with that but you might reconsider your aspirations for making a living. I personally would invest myself in learning all sorts of technical skills applied to the effects you intend to produce with your pictures by working as a graphic designer, and do alternatively photography for personal projects. I personally started by learning the darkroom and gained a lot of experience from it for then becoming freelance.
To be a graphic designer, a darkroom technician, a wedding photographer is to be an artisan. That means using your technical skills within the Art domain and to transfer them into a private or public commission for use or interest.
To be an artist is to be free from those contingencies(in theory)
I hope I answered your questions.
I wish you a Happy Xmas and am looking forward to hearing from you in 2010, with resolutions maybe?!
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