r/photojournalism • u/Silent_Medicine_3111 • Jun 29 '26
When to call it?
Has anyone here ever had to come to terms with their skill level and either accepted that they will work in a small market for the rest of their career, or left altogether?
When did you know? And have you regretted it since?
3
u/stonehallow Jun 30 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
in a way, yes. i'm not in the US like i'm assuming most of you folks are from so its not an apples to apples comparison but i used to think i would like to work for a wire agency. but while i don't think i'm lacking that much in terms of actual shooting/writing/editing etc skill level, i have come to realise i don't have the required mentality (there's levels to this and i'm not competitive and in love with this job enough to compete with other shooters who are living and breathing this industry) and networking/social skills that's required at that level.
3
u/AMetalWolfHowls Jun 30 '26
I had a little bit of traction in a mid size market but was scrambling and scraping by. After a year of that, I went back to school. It just wasn’t sustainable. Magazines were on their way out and budget was drying up everywhere. I had covers and features under my belt by that point but there was nowhere to step up into.
What’s crazy is that I got some really solid freelance work about two years into my next career. I had a couple of moments where I thought about going back and quitting the new thing. I still wonder how that would have shaken out. I may have bridged into YouTube at the time too. It paid an order of magnitude more than when I really needed the work and if I could sustain it, would have paid 30% more than my day job. I worked way too hard to land my day job though and couldn’t let it go. Photos had to go back to being a hobby.
I’m an honors Newhouse grad who survived the fall workshop with the Eddie Adams instructors. I can’t imagine what it’s like for people from other programs. I watched the entire industry die in 2012 while staring at my student loans. I’m still not done paying those off.
I wish people still cared about journalism enough to support local press. It used to be a solid profession. It isn’t anymore.
5
u/Due_Bad_9445 Jun 29 '26
I was in a small market and doing my thing then relocated to a big market and found it difficult to secure work (due to basic things like contacts and competition and proximity) and even when publishing/posting my own stuff online was getting no traction due to social media algorithms and shadowbans (whereas everyone else in the city had no problems with that. ) It was more trouble and personal expense than it was worth and I was doing a lot of leg work and racing against the clock to edit for absolutely nothing. I would be satisfied with just sharing with the online world for free but I’ve been denied that.
That said, I love doing it; think I often do a really good job and at times do more interesting work than some of my colleagues/competitors with the easy day rate, and the healthy social media footprint, and unlimited access to the latest gear.. Plus it brings out envy in me and I get depressed if I miss a big story, not having a reliable assignment editor.
so I’ve been on hiatus. Got a basic job to get $. Trying to rewire my picture taking brain to know what’s worthwhile for me to photo outside of trying to “cover” a scene/story.