Mark Jenkinson - Photography Careers: Finding Your True Path

Take a quick stroll through the photography section of your local bookstore and you will discover five to ten different books on how to launch a successful career as a photographer; an online search will reveal 20 or 30 more. They are all valid, but all of these books assume one thing: that you know what you want to do.

A 30-year-old adult who is possibly making a career change might know exactly what he or she wants to do and might have a pretty good idea of how to do it, but in my experience very few 21-year-olds holding a freshly inked diploma from a university photography program have that level of certainty.

Ive been teaching photography for over 25 years while also maintaining a full-time career as a professional photographer. In that time Ive watched as two generations of my assistants and students have struggled to find their place in a profession that most of them have been dreaming of since they were teenagers. Many start out with a clear goal, and actually achieve it only to discover that they hate running their own business, promoting themselves, paying their own health insurance, and never being sure where their next paycheck is coming from. Others love being their own boss, and embrace the daily challenges of a profession that requires them to be creative every day.

When I started teaching at New York University our department was called the Department of Photography, and our department only taught photography (with a fairly heavy emphasis on documentary and fine art). In addition to practical studio classes the students were required to take three courses on photo/art history. Back then I could look out at my classroom and confidently assume that any student in my class aspired to become either a fine-art or commercial photographer, but as we all know, in the past two decades photography has undergone an amazing metamorphosis, the result of which is that there are many new career paths/options within the industry that didnt exist five to ten years ago.

There are a few widespread notions about the current state of photography that I believe to be erroneous. One is that digital photography has made it so easy that professional training is irrelevant. In fact, I would argue the exact opposite: the prevalence of sophisticated imagery that permeates our culture has raised the standards so high that only highly trained professionals can compete. Everyone can take a photograph, but it actually takes more skill, talent, and dedication than ever before to make photographs that rise above the pedestrian.

The diminishing presence of print media is another widespread cause for concern among young people (and their parents) entering the profession, but in fact the death of print simply means that new business models and creative possibilities are emergent. In fact, I personally believe that the death of print is a cause for celebration among all photographers, but especially for the hardest hit specialty in photography: photojournalism. Now that publishers have successfully established ways to monetize digital content, websites and tablet magazines represent the greatest potential market for photojournalists since Henry Luce started publishing LIFE magazine in 1936.

The digital revolution has created a host of new creative options and career opportunities. The recent advent of the HDslr camera has blurred the lines between photography and cinema. The internet, and the rise of tablet display devices like the iPad, have changed the paradigm for the ways photography can be used and consumed. Large-format digital printing and high-resolution imaging have changed the marketing and demand for photography in the fine art world.

In response to this changing landscape for the methods, applications, and marketing of photography our photo department at NYU was renamed the Department of Photography and Imaging. Like most university photo programs we now teach classes in web design, graphic design, digital media, Photoshop, video, and so on in addition to all the classic methodologies (we still require analog and we still have a black and white darkroom!).

Photography has also increasingly emerged as one of the dominant modes of communication within our culture: Photographys greater role in society has created a new professional demand for visually literate people who can look at photographs critically and understand the subtleties of how imagery works to both inform and persuade. In response, the critical studies/history staff in our department has grown to three full-time professors and about five adjuncts who are responsible for teaching critical theory, curating, and history. Students are now required to take at least 24 credits in history/critical studies, with a growing number of students choosing critical studies as their primary area of concentration.