Sod fireman, I wanna be a Photographer

Remember when you were growing up and some well-meaning aunt trying to make conversation with a 7,10,14 year old asked "what would you like to be when you grow up?" Immediately you were transported 10 years into  the future in which in your imagination rendered you in movie poster pose, fighting a monster fire while carrying a svelte damsel...er scratch that..puppy- if you were 7.

So if fireman wasn't your thing it might have been cowboy or nurse or police(person) or something else romantic and exciting given you were naively unaware of the stigma of public service or blue collar endeavors.

Personally I plucked the vocation "Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist" out of thin air because I figured with such a small area of expertise there can't be much to learn ey? Boy, was I wrong about that.

I'm certain that many glamorous vocations were imagined by pimply adolescents over the decades as these jobs were popularized by TV programmmes of the era, I mean who didn't want to be a chopper pilot after watching a barely sober(?) Jan Michael Vincent in "Airwolf" (OK that was the 80's) or more recently every kid wants to be a CSI since the  questionable performance of David Caruso as Horatio made that look uber-cool.

Yes, it might look like they work in a warm -gelled architectural glittering masterpiece where there is are dozens of fancy machines that blip and bleep and spit out data, and all computers announce a verdict in flashing red banners with more bleeps like a frikkin' poker machine, but as anyone who has ever worked in a government lab of any description will tell you, they are grey,  deeply depressing and devoid of energy, and that decomp has a presence on the nose that literally induces the gag-and-flee reflex in any normal human being. Glamorous it aint folks.

So I hear that every Gen YZ'er now has photographer on the top their list of wannabe vocations (aside from just living off their parents), and why not, you just buy a camera and do a quick course and you are set to go. Exotic locations, beautiful models and fame await all who simply take a few pics of their sk8'r buddies and post them on Flick'r.
There is no tedious study or exams involved, you don't have to be bright or clever, and you will never have to wear a suit or cut your hair. Its basically like being a surfer. Only with more chicks.

I get asked all the time "My son/brother/boyfriend wants to be a photographer, what do you think? I have to use restraint not to pull a face and say "Has he considered the exciting world of tax auditing?"
Don't get me wrong, I encourage young fresh talent who push like a railway shunter to get into this industry- because they will crack it-Eventually. If their work has merit and they are mad-keen living /eating /sleeping the medium then nothing will hold 'em back. Just know that there are many of those out there- far more than there used to be- and the pool of work is getting smaller and the money less. We are no longer revered as the alchemists who could capture a scene or object on transparency film with a 4x5 view camera and make it look better than reality. The digital age has given the impression that its just a press of a button (click-SHIFT-F8), but its even more layered than ever. There is so much to learn and know and stay abreast of, and its changing fast. You can use software to do almost anything, but TALENT is God given, and VISION has to be absorbed over years of practicing the craft.

The top end of photographers have worked for years, and will continue to work tirelessly on every aspect of their craft to continuously impress the client today, and in addition will spend half their life on continual self-promotion to ensure that  clients will remember them tomorrow. No guarantees, precious little loyalty, no dental, no pension, and even when you are not physically working you are thinking about some aspect of work. You don't switch off at 5.

 So the question is not whether junior wants to be a photographer- but how BADLY he/she want to pursue this and how MANY YEARS it will take to build a decent portfolio and life sustaining client base to get to a point where nothing will ever be certain anyway. Sound like a good deal?