I have a question… I’ve been shooting for a few years, I’ve done a little bit of work experience here and there (recently enquired at Rankin’s studio about work experience) but most of my own work as been commissioned by record labels (smaller than Sony, Warner, Umusic etc, but big in their niche); I’ve done a number of highish profile shoots; album covers, single record covers, magazine editorial etc etc. But when I approach the big labels, the big magazines, the big agencies etc. They’re all kinda like “Really nice work, but your it’s not right for us as the moment, stay in touch”… Now, I’m a filmmaker as well as photographer and have had many script rejections, I know the above statement is pretty much “not good enough; shoot more, get better and come back to us later”.

Anyway, my real question is, as I’ve been working for a while now (but most of the time for next to no money, except for the big projects) and built up an awful lot of shooting experience is there any way I can avoid assisting, in order to make the next step up the ladder? Most people I’ve spoken to, in the big companies have said “assisting would be a step back for you”… I’d really like to believe this, but, how else do I make the high profile contacts I need to, in order to progress?

Seriously… this just happened to me yesterday. You can market yourself on your own time.

If this is about being a slave (aka assistant) I suppose that makes sense. You’ll be lucky if you work for a talented guy, who treats other human beings with respect. This world is so full of jerks…

Great list up there. I just started assisting and am printing it as I type

Whats the symbiotic pecking order?

Just show up at the guys door?

I have had the luxury to assist friends and generally cool people. In fact, I rarely assist anymore. When I first started I didn’t have that luxury and had to work for whatever jerk that called. I’ve worked for a full range of personalities. If I ever overextended myself for a photographer it was out of respect for them and my own personal work ethic. In any case, the expectations go both ways.

There’s a lot of things in this business that are fucked up, from top to bottom. Photographers have to bill for their shoelaces just to try and turn a profit. We do it because we want to take pictures and believe there’s a way to make a living doing it. Assistants included.

I buy my assistants breakfast every day. Another shooter on this forum buys lunch everyday. I pay overtime even if I don’t bill it. I treat my assistants fairly and yes, there are long days involved. Get over it,,it is the reality of the business. Don’t blame the photographer for the last flight out….most likely the client and budget were tight with no bucks for hotels. Yes, it gets that tight sometime.

I don’t know a single photographer who treats his crew badly. I know of one who yells. He has a rep and that is just the way he is. What assistants are not understanding is how much pressure there is on the shooter - from financial to production to crew to final product. If you don’t appreciate it now, you will when you get out on your own.

That’s right. You heard it here kids. Be a sponge. Soak it up because the next thing you know there’s some photographer that’s going to wring you out and leave you dry.

Let’s start the list. How should photographers be to their assistants? I’m only going to list 5 because I’m worn out from working for other people, not to mention that Bitter Photographer will make me feel a lot better than old geezer forbidding me to use my cell phone whilst I bend over for him.

1. Pay on time. Go into your own pocket if you have to. Why should an assistant wait for the client to pay? The client doesn’t hire the assistant.

2. Don’t be stingy about overtime. Don’t ask the assistant to come down on his overtime after the fact. Instruct your producer to do the same. It’s the only way assistants make any fucking money.

3. Let your loyal assistant use your gear. Pretend it doesn’t bother you. Don’t ask for anything in return for its use. This is for the time they woke up at 4 am to fly somewhere, help you shoot some piece of shit portrait, and not get home until midnight because you booked the last flight out just in case. They didn’t get any extra money because it was editorial and had to eat fast food twice in one day.

4. Be a mentor. That means do not be competitive with your assistant. When they are trying to “leave the nest”, set up a meeting for them with a photo editor that you know or have your agent do it. Pay it forward. Your assistant is never going to “take you down”. If you don’t want to do that because their work is horrible, tell them, steer them in the right direction. Don’t let their worst nightmare come true. (That nightmare by the way is working for you long term.)

5. Be cognizant of the fact your ego is a little fragile. Any good assistant will coddle it up to a certain point. They’ll say the work looks good even though its totally retarded. So in return, try to keep your lists to under 10 items instead of 26. Don’t expect servitude. If your assistant has to make a phone call during the shoot, he’ll do it at a responsible time. By the way, the assistant is running a business too. A job runs the risk of disappearing between now and lunch.

Here is my list:

-don’t study photography in school. It is truly a waste of time. It will take you at least a decade to learn your craft and you are better off learning it by doing it wrong over and over again. If you have to study photography then study the history of photography. It will serve you far better and longer than learning how to shoot an egg on white.

-shoot all the time-never stop shooting-this is the only way you are going to become a photographer

-don’t work for assholes or prima donnas.

When, especially when starting out, you don’t know what you are doing or how to do something correctly quietly ask one of the other assistants to show you the best way to do it. Don’t take unnecessary risks to cover up your lack of knowledge/experience. Very few photographers won’t hire you again because you asked them to check that you’ve loaded the film right (as long as you don’t shout it across the room) but nobody will ever hire you again if you load it wrong.

Don’t sleep with the models, don’t even try to sleep with the models, even if the photographer isn’t interested he/she won’t appreciate your efforts/lack of professionalism.

Forget being late, be early. Always be waiting out the front of the studio when the photographer arrives.

Photographers are not the only people on set you should be learning from. The caterer has probably been on more shoots that you have.

Until you are the first assistant the first assistant is God, the photographer is God’s God and not someone for you to go around harassing.

Don’t work for assholes. Its not worth it. Work for photographers who you respect even more as people than you do their photographs.

I’d like add more but Im working tomorrow so time to tuck into bed and get a good nights sleep.

LOVE this!!! This has to be one of the most obvious traits of the assistants that you want to use over and over again. This alone keeps them in constant motion.

Is Hiro still in biz?

“Always surround yourself with people who are better than you, that is how you will be judged.”

It is true. Work for great people. WORK for great people. I did. I also worked for a coke-addict who destroyed his career. What I learned from him, was, what not to do. A valuable lesson indeed.

Bust you tail as an assistant, shoot for yourself if you can, keep notes, learn.

A former assistant of mine use to come into the studio on weekends and shoot up all of my B&W film. It was ok. He was building a book that took him to the next level. He is now a name in the fashion industry. A serious A level shooter who is an incredible talent. When he assisted me and the other photographer who shared the studio, this guy would print all weekend, clean the studio, do what ever it took to make things run smooth. He made it - big time.

The assistants who were a drag or complained - half of them never left the nest.