Obtaining Work Experience

Reflection:

I was thinking of splitting my email into a couple of sections and depending on who i am emailing and what their specific work is focused on. So my first paragraph would introduce myself briefly, then explain how I would like to gain work experience with them, and why, and my interest in photography/photo assisting. My next paragraph would be more specific to the photographer, I would explain why I want to work with them specifically, talking briefly about their work. I would then talk about how working with them would be beneficial and what I would learn from it. I then would say how I hope to hear back from them, rounding up the email, expressing again how I would love to work with them as an assistant. I want to carry on emailing people even after the deadline of professional practice, and perhaps get in work experience over summer. I need to optimise my spare time and make the most out of it. Starting to email people has given me a little confidence boost with writing and sending emails, even if most don’t reply, it makes me really positive when I do get a response. I think I will find it hard to send big numbers of emails in one go, and I also think about how many people I can actually contact that I could realistically get to if they offered me some work experience. I think London is out of the question, I am going to stick to Bristol and the East Midlands where I live as I am often there and can stay home while doing the work experience.

 

4 Point Plan –

• Lists
• Composition
• Strategy
• Execution

Lists –

• Create a specific list based on your interests of artists, groups, businesses, institutions that you would like to work with
• Resources of information to compile these lists differ depending on the area of interest
• Starting points for each main interest-
• Assisting:
  • http://www.the-aop.org – lists all the working photographers by genre and geographical location, and has a specific assistant page
  • http://www.photoassistant.co.uk
  • http://photoassist.co.uk
  • http://www.directphotographic.co.uk/assist/
  • http://www.contact-collections.com/photography-collections
  • http://www.luerzerarchive.com/en
  • http://www.bipp.com/
  • http://www.rps.org/membership/member-search
• Assisting/styling/production:
  • http://www.productionparadise.com/photo-europe-directory.html
  • http://photoagentslondon.co.uk/
  • http://www.theagentlist.com/archives/agent-location/london
  • http://thebppa.com/
  • https://www.pressassociation.com/BusinessPRServies/Photography/
• Agencies/Publishing
  • http://www.filefx.co.uk/wp/
  • http://www.bikinlists.com/

Composition –

•  Composing a succinct and relevant email is crucial to success. Photographers and organisations receive emails everyday from people wanting work experience.
• The key is to get your passion, eagerness and pragmatism across and show that you have done your research into the artists/business.
• 200 words should be fine
• Embed an image of your own if you feel it is relevant

Strategy and execution –

• Keep notes on all emails/calls and contacts you make
• Reappraise at the end of the four weeks:
  • Who you have confirmed to meet
  • Who is a potential
  • Who you still have to establish contact
  • You can be binned
• It is a long process but you just need to keep chipping at it