Notice: This post is made out of frustration and you can leave your thoughts and anger here too.
I am 25, female, german and a freelance photographer. Since a year I am trying to get into concert photograpy with pay. The first 10 concerts I did of course for free to build my portfolio but now I reached the point where I want to get real jobs and some respect for my work.
But as many fellows know it is a hard world out there and you have to give 200% effort to get 2% chance on landing a job. So one of my strategies were writing pm‘s to concert photographers on instagram with the question if they could be so kind and spill the tea about experiences in the business.
Guess what? The answers were vague and short or you would get ignored. Further it would stop at telling the simple thing of which lens they used. I get it that everyone has their own style and tries to protect it but you can nit be replaced that quickly by just helping one out with some info.
Can someone tell me about similar experiences?
Is there someone who is not afraid of giving informations about this photography sector?
I would really like to not feel alone anymore with this behavior.
Thanks guys!
Summary: Freelance photographer trying to get into concert sector but struggles to get paid jobs. Succesfull photographers won‘t have a conversation about their experiences. Hence their the biggest gatekeepers in my opinion!!
You’re asking a working professional to mentor you (a complete stranger) for free with nothing to benefit them. It’s not gatekeeping. You can ask questions but not getting a reply or a reply you like isn’t them being rude or secretive. It’s more an issue of you not fully understanding how this industry works. In a world where everyone has an incredible camera in their pocket at all times, my profession as a photographer feels more precious than ever, and I’m only ever really thinking about how I can be improving and growing my own career.
Someone mentioned trying to find a professional photographer to mentor you, and this is really the only good option if you’re serious about the craft. You’ll learn a lot about concert photography in particular, and will also be benefitting the person teaching you. You might even get paid.
If you do end up becoming a professional, you’ll look back at this post and see what we mean.