30.11.09

IF YOU COULD MAKE A LIVING GIVING PRINTS AWAY, I'D BE RICH.

And so on a Monday as wet as an ex girlfriend I am ready to make my entry into the Guinness World Record books for having survived the longest weekend in the history of time. No, I was not trapped in a cupboard, No, I was not marooned on a remote Scottish Island or stranded in the desert with a punctured tyre. And No, I was not imprisoned in my garage with only cement dust and water.
Heres how it went;

"Have you put on a little weight there."
Or,
"I only spent eighty pounds on my camera, why on earth would you spend anymore."
Or,
"Why dont you get a nice little office job."
Or,
"How Much."
Or,
"Do you think you should"
Or,
"Whats that dripping coming from the light bulb."
Or,
"You need to sort that shower curtain out."
Or,
"We where thinking we might like one of those big framed photos in our hall way."
Or,
"What are you doing with that big knife."

I am often left questioning my motives towards photography and what a strange way to make a living. May be not so much strange, more different..
One common thing I always find is that most people like photography as a whole, in fact they love it. But few are prepared to pay for it.. Put it this way, if you could make a living from giving prints away I would be rich. The truth be told, if no one buys my work, I cant make any more of it. For me its that straight forward.
You wouldn't go into a shop and ask if you could have an item and then expect not to pay for it, even if the shop keeper was a relative. The only people that do that are the Mafia.

"Dont get me anything for Christmas, just give me the money. (not a voucher!)

2 comments:

mark page said...

I make typologies of Semi's or pictures of takeaway menu's. But I still get asked if I'd like to take pictures at uncle Ken's birthday party....

marcus doyle said...

Its a bit like asking the Pope to give a talk at a Scientology convention..