[This series of guest blog posts hopefully will bring you closer to all kind of creative people I admire.
I strongly believe that by collaborating and sharing ideas and experience we create better work place for all of us.
Jen has left her job as a writer and editor of educational films just before Christmas 2010 and over the past year has worked with Alastair Lee and had articles published in Climb Magazine, among others. I've been following Jen's work... admiring her creativity in both writing and photography. It's all yours Jen... :-)]
Lukasz asking me to write a guest post for his blog was one of those moments that have made the last twelve months worth it. My first year as a freelance photographer/filmmaker/writer has been something like a roller coaster – a lot of worry, a lot of questions and doubt, but also plenty of highlights peppering the whole shebang to keep my motivation up and my head above water. So I’ll start with a thank you for the nod of encouragement Lukasz, it’s much appreciated.
Going freelance and revealing myself to the world as some kind of creative phenomenon was something I’d wanted to do for a long time. I had romantic ideas of basically being on permanent holiday, taking pictures of cool stuff and seeing cool places and getting paid for it by cool companies and making cool films that everyone would go nuts for.
The truth of the matter is, I largely work from the storage cupboard of my flat and keep a part time job so I know I’ll have a bit of money every month. Sometimes thinking about this makes me feel like a loser, but sitting at my desk everyday in my previous 9-5, this is exactly what I dreamt of – having an office at home and working on all sorts of projects that genuinely interest me, in my pajamas if I want…
One thing I’ve been learning since going it alone is that a mixture of hard work, friendliness, tenacity and good luck tend to combine every so often and as a result, good things happen. This probably applies to most walks of life, but my career to date has relied on this magic combo and presented me with some amazing mentors such as Alastair Lee and Sarah Tierney who have given me a wealth of advice and opportunities that have shaped my career and that I’m consistently grateful for. Nothing beats having the wisdom of those more experienced than you to keep you focused and give an honest opinion, just as nothing beats the feeling of having those same people put their trust in you to make some work for them. Not to mention the encouragement of family and friends.
What I find both exciting and exasperating about becoming anything creative is there’s no defined path you set off on in order to become these things. I enjoy the randomness of wriggling my own way forwards, though when things aren’t going so well it would be nice to have a signpost pointing you in the right direction. My wriggling so far has taken me all over the place and led me to people who have shown me the way.
Most of the freelance work I’ve done so far has revolved around subjects I care about, which of course I feel extremely lucky for. I‘ve always believed that work that comes from the heart for whatever reason is the most interesting stuff and hope that’s what allows at least some people to connect with mine. I also try not to take it all too seriously – no matter how stressful or difficult a shoot has been, in the edit I feel it’s important to capture the spontaneity and spirit of the subject, the activity they’re doing, the setting they’re doing it in and the time you spent together shooting in equal measures – life is fun after all.
So do I regret leaving the security of a full time job? To be honest, when things are quiet and somewhat uncertain, occasionally I do. But as I slowly learn to be careful with money and appreciate the quiet times for what they are – quiet – and trust that the magic combo will kick in again soon, I am coming to relax. The volume and variety of projects I’ve had the chance to work on now that I’m ‘free’, along with every challenge that goes with them has pushed me hard and improved my work no end, giving me a real feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment as a result. The first year is always going to be hard – you aren’t well known, people cancel at short notice, no one wants to pay you much… but on reflection, it was one hell of a learning curve and I can only appreciate it for setting me up for year two, which I have no doubt is going to be great (most of the time).
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www.jenrandall.co.uk
Light shed Pictures blog
Climbing blog
