Back when I was a young(er) buck, I used to do a lot of annual report photography for many of the Fortune 500 companies, especially the pharmaceutical and telecom companies….they were all based in Jersey and so was I.
So it was a no-brainer to drive down the Turnpike, show a portfolio, and hopefully snag some work from them. But the above video more or less sums up why I left that world after a few years and went into the low-pay, slow-pay world of editorial travel from the fat-cat world of corporate dayrates.
Yes, those dayrates helped to pay my mortgage and educate my children, but the process nearly drove me out of my mind. Watch the movie, and you’ll get an idea why!
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Pingback by Tweets that mention Why I gave up the big bucks of corporate work…. « Photo Traveler, Why I gave up the big bucks of corporate work…. « Photo Traveler -- Topsy.com — July 2, 2010 @ 7:54 pm
Enough to make a man pull his hair out. (oop’s)
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Comment by Jim — July 2, 2010 @ 8:51 pm
OMG. I’ve been on both sides of that! Never again.
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Comment by Jeffrey Chapman — July 2, 2010 @ 9:40 pm
Welcome to my world. LOL (I think).
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Comment by Tom — July 3, 2010 @ 3:42 am
How long is the recovery period? You should see the looks on corporate faces when I tell them our HR Manual is one sheet of paper printed on both sides.
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Comment by Mike Byrne — July 3, 2010 @ 9:50 am
i went through a similar situation this week, i’m now going to vomit and go on vacation. being poor is becoming more attractive everyday
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Comment by mike a — July 3, 2010 @ 9:53 pm
Nails it.
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Comment by arun — July 4, 2010 @ 10:39 am
You should see the look on their faces when we tell them we charge double for meetings and triple for changes…..
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Comment by Kirk Tuck — July 4, 2010 @ 1:25 pm
It’s the same process trying to get reporters to assign photographs…I feel your pain…daily.
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Comment by Rich — July 6, 2010 @ 10:03 am
Been there, sat through the meetings, have the memos.
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Comment by Jim Green — July 6, 2010 @ 2:09 pm
Just got back from vacation and saw this clip. Now I remember why I went on vacation in the first place, to get away from this kind of stuff.
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Comment by Ron G — July 6, 2010 @ 10:12 pm
http://jusphophun.squarespace.com/blog/
really enjoyed your class and most of all your candid way of teaching, Thanks for sharing!
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Comment by joe duty — July 9, 2010 @ 11:16 am
Why this guy gave up wedding photography:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8N0zq0q5s4&feature=topvideos
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Comment by Dana Hess — July 9, 2010 @ 4:08 pm
I have tears of laughter and of frustration running down my face after that!!! I can so relate to that black look on the designer’s face near the end. It says, “how on earth did I get myself into this”.
Having said that, it is a timely reminder to think about this eventuality before I go wading into the next job like this. As the person above said – charge for changes!!
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Comment by Rory Daniel — July 11, 2010 @ 11:41 am
Hi Bob,
The video is hilarious! How to make something simple complex and causing it to be total ineffective in the end. When do those big companies getting the point? If you hiring someone external to do a job, let him do his job! Don’t try to do it half by yourself…
Up till now I did’t get much work with a brief. This video makes me feel good about that
Thanks!
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Comment by John Verbruggen — July 12, 2010 @ 8:41 am
Perfect. This is what the world has become.
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Comment by Jim — July 12, 2010 @ 5:07 pm
I plan to keep my day job as an investment banker and continue to pursue my photography hobby on the side. This work makes my job look like a picnic.
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July 15th, 2010
Albert: If you need a highly paid and totally unqualified assistant, you know where to find me! cheers, Bob
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Comment by Albert W Erickson III — July 15, 2010 @ 8:33 pm
Great ironic video – thanks for sharing it! It’s all too real in my memories of the corporate world, too. STOP – or please pause – you’re killing me!
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Comment by Brenda Tharp — July 16, 2010 @ 1:12 am
Hi Bob,
OMG! This video captures the essential essence of the hell I recently went through in branding a new energy management company. After six months, my designer partner and I finally came up with a logo the client could live with.
Stationary, business cards, signage, marketing materials, website, video animation. You name it, we designed and produced it.
Three months later, the company was bought out by one of the industry giants. So much for blood, sweat and tears!
Lesson learned: don’t it too seriously and get most of your money up front!
By the way, I hope I wasn’t this hard on you when I was on the client side at New Jersey Bell. You were always great to work with and never failed to come through with great shots for NJB Outlook and NJB Magazine.
Regards,
John Fugel
Roanoke, VA
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July 18th, 2010
John: I remember those days fondly. That was back when we could do creative stuff in the corporate arena! Great to hear from you! cheers, Bob
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Comment by John A. Fugel — July 17, 2010 @ 4:41 pm
OMG. That is so freaking hilarious. It’s so funny as we are starting to get a good amount of requests to do more corporate work here at the studio. Will be passing on this link to a couple of friends.
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Comment by Aric Hoek — July 26, 2010 @ 10:07 am
Bob..
Glad you escaped. I still live here.
Best,
Rich
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Comment by Rich Gensheimer — August 3, 2010 @ 8:02 pm