Photographer Shows How Absurd People Asking For Free Pics Are With An Ad Asking For Other Services For Free
Just because you love what you do, doesn’t mean that you should be happy to do it for free. That is one thing that a lot of artists would love for people to know.
You wouldn’t ask your doctor to work for free even if they love healing people. You wouldn’t want your pilot to fly the plane for free even if they love soaring through the sky. Nor would you demand a cook at your favorite restaurant to make you food for free even though they love making people happy. So why would you ask a photographer, who loves their craft, to take pictures for free?
Well, one photographer had enough of hearing endless requests to work for free, so they printed out and hung up a witty sign, asking for people living in Chicago to apply and do their own jobs for nothing.
A photographer was tired of being asked to work for free, so they posted this satirical job ad
Image credits: reddit
When the photographer’s friend Alexispaige1124 shared a photo of the sarcastic sign on Reddit, the internet loved it. Nearly 40,000 people thought the post was worth upvoting. While another 510 Redditors left a comment.
Unfortunately, in modern times, some individuals view artists not as technical professionals, but people who love their craft so much that just doing what they do is supposedly reward enough. They believe that passion shouldn’t be monetized because, in their opinion, art is all about pleasure and good vibes. Why would anyone want to sully that with something as mundane as money? Yuck!
What these people forget is that artists, just like anyone else, need compensation for their time in order to buy food, pay for rent, use transportation, and pay for all the hundreds of small things that it takes to live like a civilized human being, not an opossum in a dumpster.
They also don’t see the large amounts of effort that artists put into their projects. What might seem like a simple sketch here or a quick snapshot there takes up more time than most of us realize. Not to mention all the blood, sweat, and tears that artists sacrificed to get to the point that they’re at now.
Dear Pandas, what do you think of people who ask others to do their jobs for free? Have you ever been in a situation where you were pressured to work for nothing? Share your story with us and other Pandas in the comments below. And remember to support your local or favorite artists with something more tangible than exposure and smiley faces.
Here’s how internet users reacted to the witty jobs-for-free ad
Couple years ago, I repaired a friend's computer. I only charged the components prize on the tax even if stayed 2 days building it.Then he said "I tought you were doing it for free since you are my friend!" and refused to pay. I just unbuilded the computer and left. Good luck buddy.
Wait, he didn't want to pay the parts you had to buy to fix it? I am also pretty good with computers and I have build and I maintain a lot of PCs around my friends, but they always paid the parts and most of them insisted to pay me something for my time. Even if not my normal rates cause I did it as a friend. I am sorry, but you need better friends.
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When I was 15, my family was invited to someone's family reunion. My parents weren't sure why we were invited... I figure it out pretty quickly, when I was stuck in the basement with a zillion little kids and chased back down every time I tried to join the adults. A 14-year-old niece of the hosts was as pissed as I was to be stuck down there and used for free babysitting. (No it wasn't an age issue for the hosts -- their 15-year-old nephew was welcome to hang out with the adults and enjoy better food. Sweet guy, tried to get me to join him, but no dice from the hosts).
I had a similar situation. My parents got an invite to my cousin's wedding, I got an invite to sit their kids (for free of course). My brother got nothing. Poor him. I never sat kids, let alone theirs. My parents didn't go to their wedding because of this. All my other cousins always invited us all as a family (and just had their kids join in). It was weird.
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I'll work for exposure the minute I can pay my electricity bill with exposure.
I can relate. When I worked in IT I had one friend that would invite me over 'for a small party'...and then ask me to spend time fixing their computer because their kid downloaded stuff from bad sites and infect it. I finally fixed this by telling everyone "$50 per hour, first hour is guaranteed." Once we got closer to the 2000s I raised my price to $100/hour. People stopped asking me and I got to actually enjoy a party. I also found out who my friends were and who 'hung out' with me just so I'd fix their computers.
I am a delivery driver and people have wanted pizza for free or for a discount because they know me. They either don't get or don't care that even if they didn't pay for it, I would have to. Nothing in this life is for free. It would be nice if things were free, but also people would be more broke than they already are. It doesn't matter how many followers you have. Followers don't pay the bills.
As a commercial artist, I had boyfriends who considered art work "play time", even tho I usually made more than them.
As long as you keep blurring pictures and usernames in all those posts about influenza's wanting services for free, nothing much is going to change. Name them and shame them on social media and this trend will be over by june next year.
The ONLY comparable one to this is being in "computers" Sure bro, 20 years ago, while i was fixing 10+ computers a day I knew my stuff, 15 Years ago I could rebuild your server. Today I am a Firewall Security Specialist, The only PC I open is mine, and I keep up to date with PC tech just enough to maintain my own one. Yes, I could fix your desktop, But its gonna cost you a LOT. You're paying for the 25 years experience in IT. You're not paying for my ability to fix it in 30 minutes, you're paying for the 25 years it took me to learn how to diagnose it properly.
Logic for handouts is legit r******d as f**k. Got a super touching special b******t event... so let's ultra cheap the f**k out on it? So f*****g stupid. I need x done and it's so important I'm gonna pester a stranger like an a*****e to do it for me. Personally if I was feeling bored and had the time I'd be a total a*s back trolling them with the most s****y product or service I could do and when they finally notice tell them they get what they paid for so what are they complaining about...
What the ad is describing is called an unpaid intern. It happens all the time. I think it is terrible but it happens a lot.
Not really. Interns are supposed to have a mentor/supervisor. And internships are primarily done during schooling to get real world experience. What he is more alluding to are those who at best wants to pay with "exposure bucks" or dismiss entire professions with "it's just a hobby", neither puts food on the table or a roof over their head.
Load More Replies... This is a very old and very tired trope though out the photography community. As a professional photographer I get it. But what I do not do is whine about it incessantly. I spend that time looking for better clients. The majority of the time the photographers whining about this are average at best. Average doesn't cut it in a luxury service business. Just about everyone has a phone capable of taking a decent photo, so your work has to be a lot better than their work if you expect them to pay you a handsome sum for it. Unfortunately in today's "press the easy button" mentality, this does not work when making top notch photographs.
Some people though are only photographers by name. Just because you carry a camera around and have gotten a few event gigs brokered by a pushy aunt on extended family doesn't suddenly mean you are worth $200 an hour.
But then why are you asking them for photos? If you think they're not qualified then ask a family member or a friend
Load More Replies... Couple years ago, I repaired a friend's computer. I only charged the components prize on the tax even if stayed 2 days building it.Then he said "I tought you were doing it for free since you are my friend!" and refused to pay. I just unbuilded the computer and left. Good luck buddy.
Wait, he didn't want to pay the parts you had to buy to fix it? I am also pretty good with computers and I have build and I maintain a lot of PCs around my friends, but they always paid the parts and most of them insisted to pay me something for my time. Even if not my normal rates cause I did it as a friend. I am sorry, but you need better friends.
Load More Replies... When I was 15, my family was invited to someone's family reunion. My parents weren't sure why we were invited... I figure it out pretty quickly, when I was stuck in the basement with a zillion little kids and chased back down every time I tried to join the adults. A 14-year-old niece of the hosts was as pissed as I was to be stuck down there and used for free babysitting. (No it wasn't an age issue for the hosts -- their 15-year-old nephew was welcome to hang out with the adults and enjoy better food. Sweet guy, tried to get me to join him, but no dice from the hosts).
I had a similar situation. My parents got an invite to my cousin's wedding, I got an invite to sit their kids (for free of course). My brother got nothing. Poor him. I never sat kids, let alone theirs. My parents didn't go to their wedding because of this. All my other cousins always invited us all as a family (and just had their kids join in). It was weird.
Load More Replies... I'll work for exposure the minute I can pay my electricity bill with exposure.
I can relate. When I worked in IT I had one friend that would invite me over 'for a small party'...and then ask me to spend time fixing their computer because their kid downloaded stuff from bad sites and infect it. I finally fixed this by telling everyone "$50 per hour, first hour is guaranteed." Once we got closer to the 2000s I raised my price to $100/hour. People stopped asking me and I got to actually enjoy a party. I also found out who my friends were and who 'hung out' with me just so I'd fix their computers.
I am a delivery driver and people have wanted pizza for free or for a discount because they know me. They either don't get or don't care that even if they didn't pay for it, I would have to. Nothing in this life is for free. It would be nice if things were free, but also people would be more broke than they already are. It doesn't matter how many followers you have. Followers don't pay the bills.
As a commercial artist, I had boyfriends who considered art work "play time", even tho I usually made more than them.
As long as you keep blurring pictures and usernames in all those posts about influenza's wanting services for free, nothing much is going to change. Name them and shame them on social media and this trend will be over by june next year.
The ONLY comparable one to this is being in "computers" Sure bro, 20 years ago, while i was fixing 10+ computers a day I knew my stuff, 15 Years ago I could rebuild your server. Today I am a Firewall Security Specialist, The only PC I open is mine, and I keep up to date with PC tech just enough to maintain my own one. Yes, I could fix your desktop, But its gonna cost you a LOT. You're paying for the 25 years experience in IT. You're not paying for my ability to fix it in 30 minutes, you're paying for the 25 years it took me to learn how to diagnose it properly.
Logic for handouts is legit r******d as f**k. Got a super touching special b******t event... so let's ultra cheap the f**k out on it? So f*****g stupid. I need x done and it's so important I'm gonna pester a stranger like an a*****e to do it for me. Personally if I was feeling bored and had the time I'd be a total a*s back trolling them with the most s****y product or service I could do and when they finally notice tell them they get what they paid for so what are they complaining about...
What the ad is describing is called an unpaid intern. It happens all the time. I think it is terrible but it happens a lot.
Not really. Interns are supposed to have a mentor/supervisor. And internships are primarily done during schooling to get real world experience. What he is more alluding to are those who at best wants to pay with "exposure bucks" or dismiss entire professions with "it's just a hobby", neither puts food on the table or a roof over their head.
Load More Replies... This is a very old and very tired trope though out the photography community. As a professional photographer I get it. But what I do not do is whine about it incessantly. I spend that time looking for better clients. The majority of the time the photographers whining about this are average at best. Average doesn't cut it in a luxury service business. Just about everyone has a phone capable of taking a decent photo, so your work has to be a lot better than their work if you expect them to pay you a handsome sum for it. Unfortunately in today's "press the easy button" mentality, this does not work when making top notch photographs.
Some people though are only photographers by name. Just because you carry a camera around and have gotten a few event gigs brokered by a pushy aunt on extended family doesn't suddenly mean you are worth $200 an hour.
But then why are you asking them for photos? If you think they're not qualified then ask a family member or a friend
Load More Replies...
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