So you want to be a professional?
Photographer. Director. Golfer. Belly dancer. Designer. Waiter. Model.
If you’re wondering if you’ve got what it takes to go pro, try it. Seriously. Quit what you’re doing now and go there. You’ll know soon after you’ve tried to go there whether or not you’re in the right spot. If you don’t have what it takes, it will be obvious – going pro will be too hard, other things will seem more interesting, more pleasurable, more fun.
On the other hand, if you do have what it takes, you will be reborn. All setbacks will seem small, all goals achievable, all hurdles put there only to keep out the others. You will know you’re on the right path.
One thing for certain is that both paths–trying to go pro and steering clear of going pro–will be full of fear. In one case the fear is that you’ll fail and not be good enough. In the other case the fear is that you’ll never have lived your dream…
When you think of those two, which one is worse?
Nice post. Chase. Back when I was a struggling freelance writer waiting for my big break I returned time and again to Security, a short essay written by Hunter Thompson as a young pup. If you don’t mind I’ll post it here rather than send people off-site.
—
Security… what does this word mean in relation to life as we know it today? For the most part, it means safety and freedom from worry. It is said to be the end that all men strive for; but is security a utopian goal or is it another word for rut?
Let us visualize the secure man; and by this term, I mean a man who has settled for financial and personal security for his goal in life. In general, he is a man who has pushed ambition and initiative aside and settled down, so to speak, in a boring, but safe and comfortable rut for the rest of his life. His future is but an extension of his present, and he accepts it as such with a complacent shrug of his shoulders. His ideas and ideals are those of society in general and he is accepted as a respectable, but average and prosaic man. But is he a man? Has he any self-respect or pride in himself? How could he, when he has risked nothing and gained nothing? What does he think when he sees his youthful dreams of adventure, accomplishment, travel and romance buried under the cloak of conformity? How does he feel when he realizes that he has barely tasted the meal of life; when he sees the prison he has made for himself in pursuit of the almighty dollar? If he thinks this is all well and good, fine, but think of the tragedy of a man who has sacrificed his freedom on the altar of security, and wishes he could turn back the hands of time. A man is to be pitied who lacked the courage to accept the challenge of freedom and depart from the cushion of security and see life as it is instead of living it second-hand. Life has by-passed this man and he has watched from a secure place, afraid to seek anything better. What has he done except to sit and wait for the tomorrow which never comes?
Turn back the pages of history and see the men who have shaped the destiny of the world. Security was never theirs, but they lived rather than existed. Where would the world be if all men had sought security and not taken risks or gambled with their lives on the chance that, if they won, life would be different and richer? It is from the bystanders (who are in the vast majority) that we receive the propaganda that life is not worth living, that life is drudgery, that the ambitions of youth must he laid aside for a life which is but a painful wait for death. These are the ones who squeeze what excitement they can from life out of the imaginations and experiences of others through books and movies. These are the insignificant and forgotten men who preach conformity because it is all they know. These are the men who dream at night of what could have been, but who wake at dawn to take their places at the now-familiar rut and to merely exist through another day. For them, the romance of life is long dead and they are forced to go through the years on a treadmill, cursing their existence, yet afraid to die because of the unknown which faces them after death. They lacked the only true courage: the kind which enables men to face the unknown regardless of the consequences.
As an afterthought, it seems hardly proper to write of life without once mentioning happiness; so we shall let the reader answer this question for himself: who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?
Going pro I think is the biggest fear as you would embark on a journey which is unknown to yourself. Never have lived your dream is less worse as you might have had a fulfilling live in the first place.
However, if I had the equipment (digital SLR) and some talent I would probably try it. But I wouldn’t quite my job and try and start afresh. I’d rather start to become a second shooter and see what my mentor would tell me and what I personally would think of my pictures. Would I like it?
Something to test I assume. When I quit my life in Germany to move to the UK I embarked on a similar journey as I left everything behind and started completely afresh. Something that didn’t work out in the first place but I fought my way through all obstacles. Now I’m quite happy but not younger. The will to try something new might descrease with life experience and therefore age. I’m not saying that nobody would try that step but some people might want to play the safe card and worry about your fear number two.
Would I try it personally? Yes, at the weekends and see how I get on. Would I move to photography one day? If my business model was good and the competition in this respect not too big than yes. My worry is that I can be creative, but would it suffice to make a living out of photography? I honestly can’t answer that question.
No. I have a job, one that I enjoy and one that pays extremely well. I get to live in a foreign country. I have several hobbies and one is photography. Another is cycling, and I enjoy lots of amateur races. I do not want to become a pro-cyclist nor do I want to become a pro photographer and ruin my hobbies by turning them into a very difficult and likely less-than-as-wonderful job. “We need you to take a creative photo of our new and improved bag of potato chips.” No thanks.
And that does not even begin to address the difficulties of entering a field in which everyone and her uncle wants to enter, where even established, experienced pros are suffering.
Had a friend here in Tokyo whose father was/is a professional photographer and who did everything possible to discourage his son from following that path due to the extreme difficulties in making a solid living. He became an architect.
Ever wonder why so many pro photographers have so much free time as to run around teaching for fees?
Great post! Inspirational.