The Truth about Photography: Telling it like it is to Photography Students

How many of you remember sitting in high school or college right around graduation time and someone came to speak to you about the “real world”? I was asked a few months ago to speak to the entire photography class, some kids were days away from graduating and others still had one more year.

As always they told me to do whatever I wanted which could be a good and bad thing depending on my mood. But I can tell you I kept it pretty clean and mostly PG 13.

What can I tell these students that will resonate with them in their photography life? Can I tell them that most of the kids I graduated with ended up not becoming photographers? That is a true statement and I think it had to be said. If you never face the truth about photography you will be blindsided by how hard it is to make it.

Every time I speak with photographers these days who are looking to go full time I keep reminding them that very few photographers actually can make a sustainable living doing this. I tell them if they have a full time or part time regular job that there is nothing wrong with that. That is a place to start and guarantee some money coming in. The photography starts off as extra cash in your pocket and can turn in to something more.

Really I think you just have to sit back and listen or watch my candid speech that I gave to the photography students at Antonelli Institute.

Right Click here and hit save as to download this speech as an MP3.