Career Plan

Since starting this photography course, I have been on an incredibly explorational journey. My first year was riddled with difficulties of learning film-based photography, distracted by the fears of ruining the processes of developing the film itself rather than concentrating on the important matters of becoming a photographer with a signature style; a recognisable pattern of images that were intrinsically linked by style and structure. I think I finally started to find my feet within the weeks commencing my second year, through which I was given more creative freedom to explore and construct my own photographic concepts. This was fuelled by the success of my first project in second year which consisted of a moving image piece (and self-composed audio) which I worked upon with Daniel Metcalfe, a fellow student. He and I both enjoyed the idea of timelapses, and I found it to be a great experience of working with somebody else on a project. The second semester of my second year involved delving into my professional practice branding; a design for a logo, business cards, CV, and many more relevant forms. These items have since been updated, but it has got me to think about what’s next. Personally I feel the urge to present myself for who I am; a photographer who wishes to show imagery that the world will enjoy, photography that will captivate them and spark conversation. I want to be a freelance photographer, and to create desire towards my pieces of artwork, and anything that has my style linked to it - this is the overarching aim for my career as it currently stands.

Being an aspiring freelance photographer, I would naturally wish to sell work that I present on my website, at gallery spaces, and any other markets that will have me. Anything that will aid in getting my name out there will be useful towards bettering my career. Photography is what I love; showing the world is a passion, not a duty. I do not feel the same inclination towards exposing worldly threats or documenting fragmented culture. I simply have an eye for the world aesthetically, and I want others to see what I see. In my third and final year, I had two projects which were defining stepping stones in pushing me towards what I wanted to do, but not in a way that you would expect. The Brief Project was fun, I essentially visually advertised this location within France called Lens using a special macro lens to capture intricate detailed and minute areas of beauty. This was almost certainly Fine Art photography in my eyes, and I enjoyed knowing that. I have been on many field trips (or personal trips I should say) to many locations and it’s taught me the importance of photographic gear - which is something I will be saving up for over the next year. I also have had a few work placements/commissions involving graphic design, which is a small passion on the side which I like to upkeep by making myself available for graphical services. This has generally included logo design or application software design as opposed to large-scale website design. As a photographer, I developed my Major Project to be a more environmentally challenging concept, something that would certainly go transpire successfully with tutors and students alike upon reveal, as it can be heavily discussed and measured in accordance to the data and knowledge surrounding the subject matter. But this was due in part to the hesitance to experiment with Fine Art for such a large body of work. I do wish to continue heading into creating visually compelling work that ultimately people will want to buy; be it downloads or prints. Both are viable in the modern market of today.

The first step for my career is making monetary avenues electronically available - this involves setting up a fully functional online store, both for selling photographs I deem available for download, or those which I deem available for print - so long as I am equipping it with plenty to buy. This is the first step because it is self-contained and relatively easy to do, so long as you invest in such services initially. The products that will be available will have to be manually inputted, making it worth doing research into which print services I will use and at what costs they will be to me, but this is something I can only focus on once my major project is complete and out of the way. Once this is up and running, the only maintenance it will need will be new content, and obviously preparing/paying/printing/sending any prints that customers order, if they do choose to do so.

After this, the second step would be to locate gallery spaces willing to feature my work and display it for sale, in a way to further a steady stream of sales. This will require buying prints first of all to then give out and get a return, so I must first invest and discover cheap ways to print out a bulk of photographs on canvases and photo paper to put in frames. Aside from looking into featuring my photographs in physical locations, I could see what responses I’d get entering competitions and producing new work that way. This will help me to get recognition and also earn me some money if I am successful in my endeavors to be number one. POPPhoto features many competitions from “Transitional Lenses” to “2014 Photo Challenge” along with monthly “Your Best Shot” competitions. I should and will enter all of these competitions if relevant and applicable.

ACTION PLAN

Summer 2014 - Have an initial retail-like employment to earn money first. Save up some initial money to buy online store services, and invest money into an initial bulk of prints to sell. Speak to contacts within creative reselling.

Autumn 2014 - Buy premium store services and feature work digitally, to buy as prints or downloads. Distribute prints to shops that have agreed to feature my work. Begin saving to invest in a professional-grade camera and lenses.

Winter 2014 - Liaise with contacts to see what items may be selling well and reorder/restock those which are popular. Take a few weeks out to create new compelling imagery.

Spring 2015 - Use extra saved up money to buy new camera and lenses. Go out and shoot new imagery. I will continue to share my business on social networks and make my prints available for anybody to purchase.

2015 - Review current online store services and try to streamline outgoings to create stability, then consider saving enough money for a mortgage deposit.

2016 - Aim to create a stable and lucrative photographic market based on recognition of me as a photographer, this would be for a steady income towards a new home.

SWOT ANALYSIS

Internal

External

Strengths	Weaknesses	Opportunities	Threats
Organised/Punctual Photographically proficient Technologically knowledgeable Creative Hard working	Lacks Confidence Fear of Judgement Worry Sensitive Not settling for the best	The internet provides quick access to competitions Network of Photographers Contacts in the Freelance Industry Supportive family & friends	Lack of local (home) employment listings Lack of Experience Lack of Industry contacts Photography gear not up-to-date and professionally high quality

BUDGET

My budget is purely dependent on money earnt whilst in my short-term retail job which works out at £7.05 an hour, with an average working week of 9 hours. This brings me to a total of £63.45 before tax. At the going rate of 20% tax, this would bring a working week down to £50.76. This would be an absolute minimum, as working hours can drastically vary to many more. After this budget, I will continue to earn initial money putting my name out there by entering competitions and saving up for a newer camera/lenses. So, with roughly £200 minimum earnt monthly, this could be my 3-month initial budget plan:

06/06/2014	Iceland Payment	+ £50.00	£50.00
13/06/2014	Iceland Payment	+ £50.00	£100.00
20/06/2014	Iceland Payment	+ £50.00	£150.00
27/06/2014	Iceland Payment	+ £50.00	£200.00
04/07/2014	Iceland Payment	+ £50.00	£250.00
05/07/2014	Squarespace Upgrade to Professional (Monthly)	- £9.52	£240.48
11/07/2014	Iceland Payment	+ £50.00	£290.48
18/07/2014	Iceland Payment	+ £50.00	£340.48
25/07/2014	Iceland Payment	+ £50.00	£390.48
26/07/2014	10 x (40cm x 30cm) Canvas prints	- £200.00	£190.48
01/08/2014	Iceland Payment	+ £50.00	£240.48
05/08/2014	Squarespace Professional (Monthly)	- £9.52	£230.96
08/08/2014	Iceland Payment	+ £50.00	£280.96
15/08/2014	Iceland Payment	+ £50.00	£330.96
16/08/2014	10 x (40cm x 30cm) Canvas prints	- £200.00	£130.96
22/08/2014	Iceland Payment	+ £50.00	£180.96
23/08/2014	Rent	- £100.00	£80.96
29/08/2014	Iceland Payment	+ £50.00	£130.96
05/09/2014	Squarespace Professional (Monthly)	- £9.52	£121.44