The free economy quagmire in photography!

This is going to be a tough one. I know that because I’ve put off writing this piece since joining Steemit. Like all difficult blogs worth writing, it’s going to address a sensitive, controversial issue within the photography industry. Call it TF. Call it TFP. It’s “time for print” or “trade for”. It’s the exchange of time, for something else, be it edits, prints or a CD of photos.

Before I open this can of worms, I should specify that I’m referring to portraits, editorial and similar shoots that require a model and photographer. As is typical with any skill or trade, there’s a barrier of entry. For the most part, we all kind of suck out of the gate. That said, it’s a magical experience when you pick up your first camera. I don’t mean your new camera for the first time; your FIRST camera! 

During this time, we pace ourselves in this new medium, learning the equipment, finding subjects to capture. A period of obsessive learning begins and we have a chance to find ourselves artistically. This is when we discover what we like, and what makes our perceptions and vision of the world unique. Endless hours of practice. If you're drawn to nature you'll spend months in the woods. Street or documentary photography will lead lead you to interesting cities. Model photography, naturally, will bring you to aspiring models and actors, and this is where we enter the complicated predicament of TF shooting.

The premise of TF is to help one another; to address a common need for mutual gain. It's an attempt to harness [...and sometimes find] that elusive collaborative magic in another artist [...or artists]. By in large, it does just that. My first couple of years, I found artists in my hometown of Scranton, PA. Wide eyed hopeful models, aspiring to go far with this new form of expression. Looking back on those images now, they're painfully bad, but they were an essential rung in the ladder to get where I am today.

BUT...[here it comes], there are a lot of wonderful, altruistic things in life that can be abused. TF photography is most certainly one of them. What was a tool to further one's career, in way too many cases, becomes a faux-career. At no point, does the concept of charging for work enter the process, from concept to execution, and that...is...a...problem. 

Here's the thing. I feel this starts with good intentions [...for the most part]. Passions often become hobbies. That's normal. But, this isn't collecting cards or gardening. This is a career for an entire industry of people. Artists with mortgages, families and shit to pay for. To a degree, there's a natural order with these TF shoots. "Usually", the photographers aren't at a level I'd call "professional" [...meaning quality of the images, not necessarily conduct], and in many ways, I think that's the way it should be [...again, this point of collaboration should be used for portfolio building and achieving career goals]. However, there are cases when the aspirations of an early hobby are met, and the TF continues, and continues. This is when you have great photographers shooting [...by in large], attractive, often new models with zero intention of getting paid for said service. This undermines the ecosystem of all working professionals.


If at this point you feel I'm overreacting, let me tell you a freelance tale of woe that'I'll illustrate my point. Years ago, I had a friend in Pittsburg and I'd made arrangements to visit. I did my usual social media work to let the many that had asked me to come to Pittsburg, know I'd be there some six weeks later. One girl did contact me, and was tireless about negotiating down my rate. Way down! I eventually agreed to something roughly 1/3 of my typical rate. I booked a make-up artist for that shoot [...paid], and she flaked. Once arriving in Pittsburg, I wrapped with that one client, and sent some great images. Naturally, once those photos hit the internet, her friends contacted me in droves. I sent them all my rates [...rates even lower than I typically charge in bigger cities], and was met with radio silence. The Pittsburg industry self imploded. There are several talented models, make-up artist, hair stylists, wardrobe stylists and photographers in Pittsburgh, not to mention consistently good work coming out of that city [...a big reason I was drawn to shooting there], but no one is getting paid.

There are quite a few other cities that suffer from this insidious race to the bottom economic vacuum. For years, I've been courted by models in Chicago to come and shoot. Living in Minneapolis, I loved the idea of having a market to work, only six hours from home...but alas, that market didn't exist. When I posted the ad, I got an inbox full of inquiries, but once the expectation of paying for the shoot arose; nothing. Even Minneapolis suffers from this epidemic, and that frustrates me more than any where else. The reason I've spent the last five years getting on a plane to NYC or LA every other month is because there is a general assumption that this form of art is free.

For me, the goal was to start making a living with photography, and I wanted to get to there as possible. When I see someone who shoots several times a week, I think about the hours and the effort, not to mention the hundreds of hours of post production and editing, and I'm left wondering why. I can postulate that it's "...just a hobby", but those tend to be the people, years later, complaining about giving up all their weekends. Eventually, money becomes an inevitability [...with the exception of a few, which brings me to the next topic].

I teach a workshop called OPEN LIGHT. I've hosted them all over the country, in NYC, Philadelphia, Minneapolis and LA. One class in the series is titled "Modeling, Posing and Ettiquette", and in it, we address the ugly stigma [...in many cases, rightly earned] of male photographers that spend their time photographing beautiful, scantily clad women [...as a male photographer, I've spent the last decade pushing against that perception; doing everything in my power to change that perception, by example]. That reality is compounded ten fold if the shooting of beautiful, scantily clad women is always happening for free.

When I say "...happening for free", I'd like to specify, I don't necessarily mean "...model pays photographer". In a lot of cases, "...photographer pays model", works just fine. I've been shooting for 15 years. I've only done three TF shoots in the last two years, but there are still a couple of models I would gladly pay to shoot with. Not only is the exchange of money essential to a thriving artistic ecosystem, it removes a LOT the ambiguity of a TF arrangement. Someone showing up late, photographer taking a year to return photos, publishing concerns; much of these issues go away once a service has been paid for [...accompanying a good contract and release, of course].


These days, my rate is on par with the top photographers in my field, but I've worked extremely hard, for a long, long time, to get here. The advice I'd give to photographers shooting mostly TF, that ARE looking to start getting paid is as follows. 

Firstly, do not assume that everyone is as poor as you. I grew up poor, and I'm still broke a lot of the time, but that's not everyone's situation. If you're solid and consistent in your art and your work, people will pay for it. 

Secondly, take one something big. Something that you NEED to make money to enjoy. Buy a house, a car, or some expensive equipment. Sounds like bad advice for an artist, right? Nothing will force the inevitable change of getting paid work like have a scary bill coming your way every month. For me, around 2012, I nearly lost my house. When I did my tax return for that year, I saw how many TF shoots I'd done, and it was staring right back at me. That scare was my fault. From that point on, I limited myself to one or two TF shoots a year, and they had to be opportunities I couldn't pass up [...such as my work with Vintage Vandalizm, Gia Genevieve and Masuimi Max].

Lastly, and most importantly...value your time! This is a demanding field, physically, mentally, creatively, and often times, financially. As you grow in your career, that creative burden is going to get even heavier, competing against a field of talented artists. You're better than making a few bucks an hour, stressing yourself over a backlog of edits, with little or no return. Your art is worth something! If there's anything Steemit's shown us, isn't it that?