Should You EVER Do Photography Work For Free?
Should photographers work for free? It's a controversial debate.
There are normally two points of view that come up when you bring up this topic:
Version 1: Never! Oh my god, you are ruining the industry, NOOB! Exposure doesn’t pay the bills. You wouldn’t expect a plumber to work for free. You are the reason photographers can’t earn a decent living.
Version 2: Yes. You need to gain experience and you can’t expect people to pay for it. You are not the reason that people can’t make money in photography. If you don’t need the money, then why should you charge people? Do what you want to do and ignore everybody else.
Well, as with many things, it is a bit more nuanced than the arguments you hear on internet forums. Free is happening at all levels of photography all the time. From those of you just starting out, taking photos of your friends' kids, all the way through to superstar photographers doing a favour for a friend at an advertising agency. Sometimes it pays to shoot for free. Sometimes you just want to shoot for free, and no matter what some might say, there is not always an issue with this.
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00:00 Intro
00:22 Should you ever work for free as a photographer?
00:33 My experience
01:08 Value
01:50 Gaining experience is not the same as working for free
02:32 How to find jobs to build a portfolio
04:01 When to say no to photographing for free
04:26 Value For Value
04:53 Exposure!
06:35 Mutual value
07:49 Show confidence in your photography work
08:03 Shooting for family & friends
08:59 When I still work for free
10:00 Summary
10:45 Outro
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