That means you WKU, UMo, UK and Brooks students! I hope James, Tim, Dave, Leo, John and others are teaching you about more than just the nuts & bolts of photography and art, but some aspects of the business side also.

If you do everything for free or "just for the experience" or "$35 and a six pack" now and aren't compensated for the high quality of your work, it'll come back to bite you in the #ss later! Trust me. This should be required reading for everyone in the PJ program, art department and Image West student ad agency:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9287027/site/newsweek/

Now IW students are actually being paid something I believe at some point. And yeah, it'll look nice on your resume. I just hope for your sake it's enough. The photo/marketing/art world is supercompetitive as it is. But learn to be a good business person too or you'll get screwed over and over every which way but loose. Learn the value of your work and how to stand up for yourself, or bend over and assume the position. The choice is yours.

Yes, you need to be able to eat and pay rent right now. But you'll also have to do that later. Do you want to always live like some bohemian starving artist?

Its rough on students when a client will just find someone else if they aren't willing to do it for the "experience" or terrible pay. Heck, its hard enough when established professionals are willing to cut their rates into quarters, thus hitting the emerging market in the nuts, and swiping up all those gigs too.

Yeah it is rough. But it doesn't get any better. Someone has to start saying "no." Otherwise, people will just continue all the more to believe photography is a dirt cheap commodity and photographers can be treated like slaves. All students need to learn how to say "No, I'm not falling for that line. I start working like a dog for you with little or no pay and compensation and you'll always expect that from me and everyone else. I'll be screwed both now and later."

As tough as it is for photo/art/graphic design students, they need to learn from what that writer said. If every student reads that and stands firm, it'll stop.

quote:

Originally posted by Marshal:
[qb] Yeah it is rough. But it doesn't get any better. Someone has to start saying "no." [/qb]

I agree totally, but it'll never happen.