Working For Free

I am sure most people are familiar for the recent viral classified add asking for a Director Of Operations, which had no salary.

Sadly enough, there are other fields in which you are expected to work for free, and you see their work every day. From the covers of fashion magazines, to websites selling anything under the sun. the photos and models you see are done on the principal of 'work for exposure'.

This started some years back as advertising budgets shrank with companies big and small. They stole the model from small start up companies which had no advertising budget. And now, it is the norm.

Before the age of social media revolution, cheap digital cameras and Photoshop, if you wanted to have a professional looking website or advertising, you called on experienced professionals. Not anymore.

DSLR cameras have changed, become cheaper and easier to use. Most people which buy an average DSLR pay about $750-1,000 for a 'kit', and see that they can produce some great images, just like the pros.

Then you have the young girl with dreams of being a model. She looks to get a portfolio built up to take to agencies. So now she finds a friend with a DSLR and a trade shoot, or TF, takes place. This is not what is killing the industry.

What is is when the young lady or photographer are asked to work for a company for exposure. Take Lucky 13 Apparel. They were approached to do a shoot with four models and photographer to do a new season line for one day. The response from Lucky 13 was that they would never spend $1,000 for shooting their product line. Keep in mind the standard half day rate for an average model is $250.00.

And then you have the outright theft of a photographer's work via social media, or the news service. A good example is a photographer in Australia, Rohan Anderson Photography, which had his photos downloaded by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. The band then removed the watermark and posted them as their own.

Mr. Anderson then asked the band to give him credit for the photos, no money, simply credit or remove it. the response from the band was, “You have no legal claim as the photo is credited and is not posted for a monetary gain and features our likeness and image not yours. Also you have just got your self banned from any festival or show we ever play again in that region for life! Congrats!Sent from my iPhone”

Rohan Anderson's work is very respected, and the threat of being banned by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus at any festival they played was soon replaced by an apology by the band. Many of the photographer's fans, and many more of the bands over 1,400,000 fans seemed to agree that the stealing of someone else's work was not right.

But in this digital age where you can get photographers and models to line up for free, getting noticed has turned into only taking advantage of the work for exposure/free attitude in this profession, but others as well.

ReverbNation, the national company which books, promotes and puts on shows across America, has started to ask for 'volunteers' to help with selected shows throughout the nation. and it seems to be working.

An example is the Jack Johnson tour. They are using the guise of a charity benefit to entice people to volunteer all across the nation for assistance at shows. The two shows in Southern California at The Greek Theater are sold out. So why would they need to ask for volunteers?

For the same reason other companies have trimmed paid photographers and models fro their advertising budgets. To save money and pocket more profits.

Yes, it is good to help your local group or charity out to be able to promote awareness and get the word out or put on a local event with bands. But once corporations and companies of all sizes begin to recruit free work under the guise of charity or work for exposure, everyone needs to do what Nancy Reagan taught us many years ago.

Just say No.