Teaching and shooting commercial jobs is tricky
A few years ago, I decided that teaching and shooting stock and shooting commercial jobs was the way to go. Little did I know the economy would completely hit the skids. As I have mentioned previously on this blog, many photographers that I knew in the previous economy have been e mailing me to ask how I got the teaching job. A few months ago, a photographer who is a big competitor of mine in the humor category landed a gig at RIT.
Now comes the tough part: dealing with your rep and Art Buyers and AD’s while teaching. I kept my rep for the first two years of teaching. Often, in the middle of class time, my rep would call and I was told I had a conference call with an Art Buyer and three creatives in 1 hour. If I was lucky, class ended in 1/2 hour and I could make the call work and be in contention for the job. At the same time, I should be on the phone with my producer working on the estimate, so I could sound like I knew what I was talking about when I was on the call.
The other big issue is: if you get the job, when is the shoot date? Anyone who has worked at the highest levels of advertising photography knows that shoot dates are usually NEVER set in stone and in many cases, you make more money if the job is postponed. However, teaching make-up classes and never knowing if you are coming or going or being able to give students a schedule of make-up classes until you are on the plane is not fun.
There are many other things to contend with trying to juggle teaching and shooting commercially. It’s not easy to do but I think it is essential for a photographer to keep up their skills and give photography students current information in the commercial photography field.
One final note: There are many fine artists who shoot commercial jobs, and some are even photography department chairs at Universities. Steven Shore is one that comes to mind. He is department chair at Bard College. Larry Fink also teaches there and shoots commercial jobs. There are many, many other photographers who juggle teaching and shooting commercially.
2 Responses to “Teaching and shooting commercial jobs is tricky”
bg says:
June 25, 2010 at 9:52 am
One consideration is adjunct positions. I am taking one for the fall and it meets on Monday nights, which works great because it does not interfere with my commercial work at all. Shoots don’t really happen on Mondays that much – it’s usually the prep day.
To teach full or semi-full time you have to be prepared to turn down jobs or just bag commercial work altogether.
The people you mentioned like Shore and Fink and even Sulton when he was alive – really don’t do bread and butter commercial jobs but very specific, usually larger projects, that cater to their specific style. They can probably arrange the shoot date around their schedules, I would imagine. That’s a unique position to be in for very few people.
One of the bitter ironies is watching commercial photographer’s giving up the field -due to the sheer over-saturation of photographers and the economy- to teach, train and encourage students to enter this very field! Go figure.
But actually, I think teaching is really creative. I would probably encourage students to keep photography for themselves rather then enter the market.
What do you think? Do you encourage students to shoot commercially knowing what you know?
greg says:
June 25, 2010 at 11:44 am
I think it is great when professional photographers take adjunct positions. One day a week is perfect!
What I tell students is that it is very very difficult to become a professional photographer: that It can take years to build a business to make a living. I also tell them that life as a photographer is “A Marathon, not a 5K.” Success usually will not be instant if it comes at all. I also tell them that the best photographers are not always the most successful photographers; there are average photographers who are great at business and marketing that are very successful.
I have thought a lot about this topic. I do not think young photographers will stop going to school, even thought the marketplace is full of good and great photographers already. I reason that students go to school for acting and poetry, with little chance of employment, yet schools are full of acting students and young poets. Still, I feel bad if students have gone through 4 years of school, only to find that the staff photography position at National Geographic does not exist.