We get a lot of calls and emails from people wanting photographic assisting work or work experience so we’ve written this page to give you a helping hand, our top tips for those of you who are just starting out.
Firstly, it’s tough out there, there are a lot of people chasing a few jobs, so be persistent, don’t give up and eventually you will start getting assisting work. Full time assisting jobs are really difficult to find so you might have to go freelance from the start. Send out your CV, phone local studios and freelancers, let them know you’re out there and looking.
It’s great if you’ve got a good portfolio, it shows potential, but as an assistant your portfolio doesn’t matter if you can’t make a good cup of tea, carry the bags, look after clients and think on your feet. As an assistant you’ll get to help out the photographer but unfortunately all the unglamourous but important jobs will be down to you, so wear a comfortable pair of shoes as you’ll be doing a lot of running about.
Can you drive? do you speak more than one language? Have you got your own transport? These are the things we like to see on cvs as we go on location and sometimes need someone to share the driving, they're not essential but they do help.
It’s really useful if you already know how to use flash lighting, camera equipment and software. We don’t mind if assistants need to be shown how to use our equipment, we’d much rather show them and avoid breakages (it’s all expensive kit) but on some shoots we don’t have time so have to use assistants we already know we can trust. If you want to familiarise yourself with professional photographic equipment consider first getting a job in a professional suppliers, hire company or large studio complex. Here are some links for our favourite London based companies:
Have you heard of the Association of Photographers? The Aop is the trade association for photographers in the UK, they campaign for photographers rights. They have lots of great information on their website for both assistants and photographers who are just setting up. They also run monthly careers advice sessions at their gallery in London which are well worth going to. You can join as a student or assistant member. The aop website is at http://home.the-aop.org/ and if you're reading this and looking for an assistant the aop also run http://www.photo-assistants.com/
You’re welcome to send us your cv or email us to introduce yourself, we keep a database of assistants we call for shoots. We get a lot of emails though and we can’t call everyone. It’s also very difficult to offer work experience placements as we never know whether we'll be shooting in the studio or in the middle of nowhere from week to week, that’s why it’s important that you contact a lot of photographers. Someone who shoots mainly studio work is more likely to be able to offer work experience placements.
Finally...good luck! We think it’s the best job in the world :)