Advice to new (photo)journalism grads
Posted by Tim Gruber | Filed under career, journalism
As a fresh graduate from OU I found Will Sullivan’s post on his Journerdism blog to be an entertaining and informative read. You might need your earmuffs for a few of the points, but you can’t fault his enthusiasm.
Just a taste of what he wrote:
Your coworkers / your environment matters a lot too.
Surround yourself with people that inspire and encourage you that you can learn from.
That’s the exact reason why I felt like my time at grad school was so valuable.
Toxic environments will destroy your life faster than Crystal Meth.
Avoid them like the plague. This isn’t your high school boyfriend that you may think you can ‘fix him and he’ll be a keeper.’ Maybe you can sometimes, but by the time you do you’re finished fixing it, you’ll be going to be bitter and old. Get out as quick as possible and read the No Asshole Rule if you’re stuck in a toxic environment or if you see one forming
Awards don’t really matter. (But they really do.)
They shouldn’t. But if I’ve got dozens of resumes with similar previous experience, skills and portfolio between candidates, someone who’s won half a dozen awards for their work versus someone who’s won none will probably get them put in the ‘to check out further pile.’ Outside of ladder climbing, winning awards just feels good. Recognition for hard work is important. Just don’t stress about it too much, because awards are so random and subjective depending on the panel of judges. (Watch as many contest judging events as you possibly can and you’ll learn this quickly.) One thing to remember: You can’t win awards if you don’t enter. I’ve judged a couple dozen contests, and I gotta say, sometimes people win just because there wasn’t really any competition and they paid an entry fee, so someone has to win.
We all know firsthand how dreadful the contest game can be.
“You need ‘Fuck you’ skills. Like a hand with a raised middle finger, you need to have a bunch of little fingers of skills in many different areas like flash, social media video, writing, audio, programming, CAR or whatever, but one area that you’re really awesome in (the middle finger). So if things are really bad somewhere, you’re awesome at that skill and you can say, ‘fuck you’ and move on.” (Kinda like FU money.) But recently, I unveiled a new theory while rappin’ with some Mizzou j-students: It’s a little risky to put all your eggs in one basket. So I’m thinking, “Peace out” skills are better. (It’s also less vulgar than ‘fuck you’ skills.) So my advice is: Be familiar with as many aspects of journalism as possible — have a little of your fingers in everything — but have two disciplines that you’re really awesome with. Hence, the “Peace out” sign. When it comes time to say “Peace out” it’s best done with the body slightly askew, throw the peace sign rapidly in a downward motion sideways, cock your head, scrunch your lips, blow out your cheeks and enlarge your eyes. Practice in the mirror before actually doing this on the job, to make sure the effect is totally perfect. You don’t want to be “That guy who was really great in Flash and Video Animation, but when he left he awkwardly poked himself in the nose and make a farting sound with his mouth. What was his deal?”
Check out the other 28 great points on Will’s blog and add your own while you’re there.
Only thing I might add is thinking of yourself as a brand.
Tags: career, contests, marketing, selfpromo
Contests: The love and hate relationship.
Posted by Tim Gruber | Filed under career, contests
With the contest season slowly coming to a close I enjoyed a recent post by Trent Nelson on contests in response to a student threatening to burn his photos. A panel of contest judges deemed the young photographer and all the entries in the Young Scottish Photographer of the Year category to be unworthy of the honor.
Apparently the young photographer was misquoted and never threatened to burn his photos, rather he said he’d be burning bridges by speaking out.
What fun is that? Burn those suckers. (Alright I didn’t major in PR so I’m not sure if that’s the best move.)
After finishing up my latest contest entry last night I had the same thoughts linger in my head that always appear after I enter a contest:
Why do I do this? What good is this for? If I’m doing this to give a voice to my subjects why bother? Why expose myself to the torture of losing?
The reality remains though — I’m new to the business and don’t have much of a career(if you can call it that) in this field I love. A contest helps bring credibility to my work.
We all know our field is extremely competitive and talent flows from all corners. Contests are a way to give yourself an edge. In many ways it’s like building a brand. Your name and your work are your brand. It’s your passion and you want validation that your hard work means something to your peers.
This recent blog post on Innovation in College Media touches on the idea of branding yourself in hopes of landing a job:
You might think you’re too young in your career to build a brand. Wrong. You need to start developing it now. Literally, your employer is purchasing your skills over someone else. You have to sell that idea to them. This requires you to think in marketing and advertising mode.
Contests are also a chance to reflect on the year. What worked? What didn’t? Did I meet the goals I set out for myself? It’s a chance to see how many bad photos I took(a lot) and serves as a reminder that there’s always more that can be done.
It’s a wonderful way to gauge your growth against not only yourself, but your peers.
What do we know for certain about contests?
As Melissa states:
They are such a double-edged sword. You win: You feel validated. Your bosses and publications are happy. Your resume gets padded with a few extra lines. You lose: You take it personally. You feel like your best is not good enough. Your ego get deflated.
Love ‘em or hate ‘em they’re a part of our business.
Trent says it best:
To all of you young photographers looking to be the next big thing: Invest your emotion into your work, not into contest wins. Contests are not science. The results are subjective and unpredictable. If you work hard and stay focused on your art, then recognition will come.
I came home to this last year on the floor in my house and it
served as a nice reminder that there’s more to life than contests.
Thanks guys.
Tags: brand, contests, photojournalism, selfpromo
