Ego Can't Exist When You Start All Over Again

When I arrived in London 7 years ago, everything was new to me. I was starting again in a new country, in a different language, in a different industry and at a very different age than the one I had when I started in my previous career. This time, I was about to become 40, and I had left my former industry, in which I had 20 years of experience, to pursue a career in photography. All the odds were against me, but here I am, still working as a photographer and now writing about my life as a creative on this blog. As they say, 'hunger is a good kitchen', and I can tell you that I was really hungry for becoming the person that I am today.

Uber-talented singer-songwriter Erika Ender was interviewed by Erika de la Vega last year. During the interview, she spoke about her beginnings in the US market and about having to start from zero in a different country. Erika said: "Ego can't exist when you start all over again." Only when you free yourself from all your baggage and all your preconceptions, and you are open to learning from others and to accepting new opportunities is that you are ready to start anew.

This past weekend, right at the end of a shoot, the client asked the person who was assisting me what had he learnt from the experience that day. He immediately replied that he had never seen anyone use an old bedsheet to cover the model while they were changing during an outdoor shoot (a trick I learnt from a stylist many years ago).

His answer got me into thinking that, apart from going out to meet people like crazy, one of the things that I did when I arrived in London was to assist other photographers in order to learn about the industry and the craft. I worked with many photographers in anything from unpaid portfolio updates to properly paid client work, and from those experiences, I gathered a wealth of knowledge.

Today's post is to pay tribute to all of those photographers who let me assist them when I didn't have a clue of what I was doing, and to their crew members because every single one of them taught me invaluable lessons, some of which I still apply today:

• Chris Streule: he was the first person in the industry that I met in the UK. From him, I learnt how to put together a crew for a shoot.

• Sam Gyang: the first photographer who I ever assisted, he taught me that the best lens for portraits is an 85mm.

• René August: the first photographer who I assisted in a studio setting. She taught me how to set up lights, install modifiers and contact model agencies.

• Andrew Clark: during his shoot, I met a person who would become one of my long-time collaborators.

• Andrew Hiles: I assisted him many times at the very beginning, and every opportunity was an invaluable lesson on how to produce a shoot and deal with clients.

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The Fatality Of The Creative's Life

I started University when I was 17 years old. As soon as I finished my first year, one of my professors referred me to a contact of hers who gave me my first job. I had just turned 18, and I already had a full-time job. I had no experience, and I had only finished 1 year of classes which only covered the basic stuff. Nevertheless, she took the risk of referring me and, without her foreseeing it, the opportunity that she gave me unleashed a 20-year long career. I am fully aware that I was fortunate and that an opportunity like that happened just because I had the means to go to that University in particular and also because the professor who spotted me had those sorts of connections. Is it possible to make these opportunities available to anyone from any background?

A few days ago, I was having a conversation with a young cinematographer about how difficult it is for starting creatives in the UK. If you don’t have contacts in the industry, or if you haven’t attended the “right” schools, finding people to give you the first opportunities can be a discouraging task. Disregarding whether you are good or not at what you do, if you don’t have experience or the right connections is almost impossible to find work. Starting creatives resort to unpaid jobs to gain experience and also to meet as many people as possible in the hopes that one of those connections will be able to open a door into the industry.

However, reality kicks in, and when living expenses demand to be covered, you have to get yourself a day-job to be able to make ends meet. Up until here, it all sounds very logical, but any creative will be able to tell you that not every type of day-job counts. Creative gigs come and go easily, they usually appear without notice, and they tend to have an unforeseeable duration. This means that, whichever day-job you get, it must give you enough flexibility for you to be able to take time off with short notice for those sudden gigs for which you might also not know the duration. Let me know when you find an employer who is willing to hire you under those conditions.

This young cinematographer told me that they rely on temporary jobs and creative gigs in other fields different from their own to be able to make it to the end of the month. But, at this pace, their chances of one day achieving the dream of working in the film industry seem to be running low.

The Creative Industries in the UK are one of the strongest in the country. According to the Department of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Britain’s Creative Industries play an essential role shaping how we are seen around the world and are also a vital part of the economy. Yet, for starting creatives whose parents can’t support them throughout the first years or who don’t attend the right schools, building a sustainable career in the industry is very difficult.

Why is it so different for other industries? In the Creatives Industries, if you are a starting creative with no experience but you can afford to get unpaid internships/apprenticeships, there are options plentiful. But, if you are like the majority of starting creatives and have bills to pay, your chances of getting entry-level paid jobs are very slim. What if you are starting your creative career at a certain age when you have even more obligations? I don’t see anyone addressing that demographic.

I know that it is easy to write and campaign for No Free Work from the comfort of my office when starting creatives out there would take any opportunity that comes their way to get a foot in the industry. I also know that when setting up teams for client work, it is challenging to fit inexperienced people in the crew and with limited budgets, it is even more difficult to fit in additional assistants.

But, something’s got to give. As an industry, we are a referent for the rest of the world. I just watched the Emmy Awards 2019, and British creatives took most of the statues home. That is only possible when you support and invest in the industry. And, as an industry, we are only as strong as our weakest creative. Without the proper support, the newest generation of creatives will not be able to hold the weight of the legacy that they are inheriting.

Photo credit: behind the scenes taken by Andrzej Gruszka.

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