What exactly does it take to be “lucky?”
I firmly believe that we all have a chance in life. Now, obviously, not all of us have the same opportunities. Some get bigger chances than others. Some get more opportunities more often than others. The circumstances of our birth were completely unfair and beyond our control. We have no control over where we were born, our parents born to, or the majority of our built-in demographic. But, if you are lucky enough to live long enough, at some point the opportunity will come to everyone. Whether or not we take advantage of it, or even recognize it as an opportunity at the time, is often the difference between success and a delayed dream.
Of course, just as we can’t control the circumstances of our birth, the idea that we can create opportunities for ourselves seems equally far-fetched. I can’t just decide that I want the chance to be president, and then just expect my inauguration to happen as requested. But, even for such a monumental thing, there are actually tangible steps within my control that I can take to lend a hand to fate. Join student government to gain experience. Keep my nose clean and free of notoriety. Intern with a local politician. I have no desire to be a politician, so my knowledge of how to run a successful presidential campaign is limited. But you get the picture.
The same rules apply to us as artists. The truth about artists is that the world is completely filled with us. Never in human history has the Earth lacked creativity or people who want to use that creativity for profit. And, if you’ve set your sights on making a living out of your own creativity, it’s no wonder you’ve chosen a very crowded field to play in. “Big” opportunities will be scarce. And sometimes it inevitably feels like all the great opportunities are coming to someone else.
So what can you do about it? To paraphrase Les Brown, all you can do is all you can do. And all you can do is enough. But you have to be willing to do it. The tools to create your own opportunities are in your hands. But they require action to be effective.
Create personal work
One of the more peculiar things that tends to happen to professional photographers is that at some point it’s easy to forget to create our own photos. We usually start out as photographers, taking pictures purely for fun. We take pictures because we love it. At some point we loved it so much and we were good enough to make it our profession. Turning a hobby into a business requires certain changes to how and what we shoot, with more emphasis on how each of our images will help boost our brand prospects. our trade. With luck, you can build a successful business and eventually get paid every time you take out your camera.
But one hidden thing that very few people tell you is that, while authorized deposits are what make up your bank account, personal funds are what make up your legacy. It is when we do our personal work, images that are not commercially motivated, exist only because we want to promote ourselves artistically, that we find our “voice” as artists. Unconstrained by the requirements of the art director or the client, these passion projects are our chance to create work that is 100% our own. Depending on your genre, your commercial work may also provide a bit of copyright. But it is when you create your own concepts that you can really learn for yourself what ignites your personal creative fire. And ironically, these personal projects are often the ones that are of most interest to your clients. They want to know what you bring to the table as an individual. They want to see how your personal skills and vision can enhance their project. It’s not something you can do when the art is directed by someone else. They want to know what YOU bring to the project.
Doing personal work seems like a waste of time or money. In doing so, however, you are creating an opportunity for your customers to peek behind the curtain. You are giving them a chance to see you in a different way. Perhaps in a way, they wouldn’t consider it if they were only looking at your tightly controlled fiduciary. By being proactive, you give them a chance to notice you. And in return, you are creating an opportunity to get noticed.
Bet on yourself
It’s cliché but true. If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will.
To my parents’ disappointment, never in my life have I wanted to do anything with my life other than create art. I had a million and one jobs in a day. But the only thing that ever gave my life meaning was the artwork I created. However, despite this unbridled passion, even I can admit that pursuing a career in art was not the most practical decision. If your goal is to make as much money as possible, there are easier ways to do it than by becoming an artist. If you like things like stability and certainty, choosing a freelance job where every day is a different adventure with the very real possibility that you will fall on your face may not be the best fit. That doesn’t mean you still can’t make art as a hobby. But choosing to commit to doing so for your primary income stream requires a special level of trust.
But the leap doesn’t stop just because you’ve finally publicly admitted that you want to be a professional artist. Maintaining that career means taking that leap over and over again to keep advancing. This is a profession where stagnation means death. If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse.
Sometimes these daily leaps are things like choosing to invest money in a personal project, knowing that there is little chance of a financial return. Other times, it’s submitting your work to a dream client despite your inner fear that your work might not be good enough. Or continue to submit photos to a prestigious photo contest even though you have not been selected for 10 years of operation.
In short, you have to be willing to put yourself on the ledge. Even if others may think you’re crazy for doing so, you need to have faith in yourself. Is this a guarantee of success? Absolutely not. But, by putting yourself out there, you are again creating opportunities. That big brand can’t hire you if they don’t know you exist. Reaching out to them may end in denial. But do not achieve certainly will. You must continually create the potential for new opportunities by constantly putting yourself in a position for opportunities to come.
Away from home
You never know who you will meet. We tend to think of network as a dirty word. We think of it as purely a matter of brown-nosed people with impressive titles trying to get us a job. And, to be sure, this is part of it. But networking can be as simple as maintaining healthy relationships with your colleagues and fellow photographers.
As a serious introvert, socializing is usually not something I enjoy doing. But most of the work I got is because I met someone, this person knows someone, this person has a friend elsewhere who used to work with this guy, his sister’s husband is the janitor at that place, this person does the banking for that person. agent, and the agent ran into the janitor in the lobby, and somehow my name popped up, and you got the picture.
Acquiring new customers isn’t always as simple as getting from A to B. Often, it’s the accumulation of touchpoints that ultimately create a seemingly unexpected opportunity. But it takes hard work to get lucky. And putting yourself out into the world physically can go a long way toward putting yourself in the right place when the opportunity arises.
Of course, it’s entirely possible that you go to every party in town and never meet the “right person”. But what if you do?
Opportunities abound. Yes, even for you. The trick is to place the jobs so that you are in the right place to receive them. Work hard first so that when those opportunities come, you’re ready to take advantage of them. And keep an open mind and an open heart to embrace the moments that can change your life.
