I'm looking for work as a custom B&W printer. The trouble is; is that I don't have a very impressive resume. I've been doing b&w photography for about three years now and I have gotten lots of compliments on my work by seasoned professionals but with my meezly resume (school and on my own) no one will even give me an interview. I continue to work as I have access to a darkroom so I'm constantly at it. Granted I still have lots more to learn but if I could get my foot in the door somehow I'm sure I could do a good job. I've even offered myself as an unpaid apprentice/intern. But no one will bite. Does anyone have any suggestions or for those out there that live in the NY area that might be able to help or throw some leads my way I'd be really grateful. I really love being in the lab and I really need a job. lisa

-- lisa (takeishi@earthlink.net), September 29, 1999

Answers

Maybe if you submit the work seasoned professionals like with your resume somone will bite.

-- wdnagel (wgnagel@erols.com), September 30, 1999.

from my experience... i have never gotten a job in the photot industry based on my resume... the resume has gotten me the interview.. and thats all. if you can get the "powers that be" to meet with you, and see your work... and you represent some sort of asset to them, AND they like you.. you should be able to find someone who will take you on as an apprentice... perhaps instead of a resume, print up some of your work, run it through a computer to put your info on the back, and make it more of a business card than a resume. just be sure the "card" is something they will not want to throw away.. if they like it and want to keep it around.. you could become a household name to them through repetition of seeing it.. if you don't get any calls back, try visiting the labs one at a time after some time, introduce yourself when you walk in, ask to speak with the person whom hires... when you meet this person, introduce yourself again.. shake hands, it helps. make sure s/he has time to spend.. don't bring the focus to the fact that you are not presenting him/her with a resume... in fact don't even bring it up. be honest if they ask, but don't just offer. let your work be your resume.. be honest sincere humble and confident! (anything less is strikes against you) i never hire anybody based on what they say... i have them try, and see what they are capeable of. but if i don't like them, or they catch me at the wrong time, they don't have a chance. if the place where you go has no job to offer you, see if you can (providing you want to) hang around and fetch coffee, etc. learn what you can... see how the industry works, and what is expected of the people in it.. if they don't want you hanging around.. maybee they are really busy and don't have time, or don't see you as an asset. either way, you won't get much else beyond what you already have from the experience.

a number of years ago (mentioning no names) i walked into a place that had advertised, "hiring photographers", had an interview ( as it was thier policy to interview everyone ) and was shown out the back door!!! i was quite taken with confusing emotions. while i was there, i had handed the interviewer my card... almost a year later i recieved a phone call from that very agency asking me to come to the staff photographers meeting. ????? i went. within 2 months i was one of the best photographers the agency had, go figure? ( in the mean time i had been setting up my own business. never stopping my persuit. less than a year later i left the agency completely ( never buring my bridges tho. ) point being, don't sweat it... just do the footwork and be happy, you never know what will happen down the road. If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.. if life gives you sh*t, wipe and continue on your way - its natural.

-- Sean (ZBeeblebrox42@yahoo.com), October 01, 1999.

I worked in labs in NYC for many years, and I can tell you, lab work is one step above slavery.

Or maybe one step below.

I would seriously advise that you consider this career move very carefully. If you think that working in labs is a way to break into the "glamorous" world of professional photography in NY, think again. For most people it's a dreary drudge of a dead end. Lab workers are looked upon as dirt by most photographers, who see themselves as "artists" and lab workers as the lowly technicians whom they reluctantly allow to bring their lofty creations to life. From my experience, it was usually the reverse: many of the lab workers I knew were extremely creative, intelligent people who somehow found themselves trapped in the smelly underworld of the lab scene, forever typecast as mere "technicians", completely unable to break into the bright world of photography above. Lab managers were mostly slave drivers who worked their underlings to death, took all the credit when things went well, none of the blame when things went poorly. And I would characterize most lab owners in an even less favorable way. Many of the lab workers I knew were either alcoholics or druggies, hiding away in their dirty, cockroach infested little caves, hoping that no one would discover the fact that they needed chemical assistance to get through the day--or night. And the night shifts, if anything, were even worse. The only ones who survived in this horribly abusive environment--other than the chemically lobotomized, that is--were people that could only be described as A--holes of the First Magnitude.

For a reasonably accurate portrayal of lab work in NYC, I would suggest you rent a video of Richard Wagner's opera, "Das Rheingold." Pay particular attention to the Niebelung who live underground and mine the gold for the gods above--then think of yourself in that way.

http://www.ravenvision.com/rvapeter.htm

-- Peter Hughes (leonine@redshift.com), October 02, 1999.