Mentoring younger photographers

[Thom Bennett]

I am older now (64) than one of my most important mentors was when he passed away (62) and that fact alone encourages me to help anyone who takes a keen interest in some aspect of photography that I have a working knowledge of. I worked for Nick for about a year and half before he passed but, in that time, he taught me one of the most important lessons that I've carried with me and that I hope to pass along: make the best image (and print) you can possibly make no matter how long it takes or how much effort or how many resources. He was the guy who did not want to be known as the one who made it the fastest but the one who made it the best.

[Jim Noel]

After active teaching for 64 years and continuing to mentor for, up until now, 15 more, all I have to say is I've found every instance with every student to be different, and often challenging. At 95 I continue to mentor via telephone, e-mail and letters and hope to continue to do so for all of my remaining years. It has been a wonderful and rewarding part of my long life.

[Scott Davis]

I currently teach and mentor at a photography center outside Washington DC (I think my teaching may become more limited as I have stepped into a management role at the center). I always provide mentorship even on a situational basis, to any student there who has a question that I can answer. I find it incredibly rewarding. 90% of the time the students are very grateful for the advice and support, but there are always moments when you feel like they expect you to teach them EVERYTHING for free. I've never asked them to provide me with free labor, and I certainly wouldn't expect them to cover MY costs (unless they did something unutterably stupid like open a box of 8x10 sheet film in room light).

[Corran]

A story:

Years ago...I guess 2007 or so, I was cold-called by another professional in the business of audio, which is what I was doing full-time while in college. He had found my website, listened to my work, and was contacting me about taking over a job for him as he felt I could handle it based on the work I presented (he was double-booked due to a reschedule). I lived about 2-3 hours from where he was based. I was talking to him for a little bit, getting details and also he was interested in possibly hiring me on as an assistant full-time as he was getting more work than he could handle, which was exciting as I was graduating the following year. Well, after mentioning this fact he suddenly stopped and said wait...you're in college?? He was assuming based on my knowledge, website, and work that he was talking to a long-time professional with a decade+ of experience. Once he heard this he completely dropped the offer, mentioning that he couldn't just hand this job off to a 22-year-old.

If that wasn't disappointing enough, he contacted me sometime later to discuss becoming his assistant. He offered me the VERY generous opportunity to assist him with all his professional work and help me "break into the market" that I had been working in for about 4 years, and in exchange would pay me nothing and I would also need to relocate to where he lived (in a very expensive city) where he would provide no assistance with basic living expenses or whatever. I curtly explained that I was unable to live in a cardboard box and work for free to support his business! Funnily enough he called me 2-3 times more in the following years begging me to sell some equipment I mentioned I owned that he wanted (some very high-end mics, that I still have...).

Anyway, when I was doing a ton of weddings back in the day, I always had numerous photographers ask to assist. All of them wanted to get paid though, even when they had never shot a wedding or any kind of serious photography work. I did assist for a couple of wedding photographers when I was brand-new and had never done them, which gave me some valuable lessons. None of which were photography (technique) related but all about clients, shot lists, etc. I did eventually find one young man who was very earnest and with a bit of experience, but valued what I could provide as a mentor in that space. I did pay him for several weddings, and he even found jobs on his own that we would split 50/50 if he brought in the client. One summer between what I had and he brought in I think I did 10 weddings while also working a full-time job and still doing audio work.

[jnantz]

I hope you find someone more suitable to your needs who can teach you basic exposure, camera-work and darkroom technique, Good luck with your hobby… and finding a local school/mentor/teacher.

[paulbarden]

It's sad that you're choosing to view all mentors as dishonest, selfish creeps, parasites and users. That's not the world I live in, and I seriously doubt you do either. Why you want to paint the photography community with such broad strokes is a mystery. If you move forward in your pursuits with such a negative mindset, you're going to find nothing but disappointment, so I encourage you to find a different way to see what's in front of you.

[monochromeFan]

It's sad that you're choosing to view all mentors as dishonest, selfish creeps, parasites and users. That's not the world I live in, and I seriously doubt you do either. Why you want to paint the photography community with such broad strokes is a mystery. If you move forward in your pursuits with such a negative mindset, you're going to find nothing but disappointment, so I encourage you to find a different way to see what's in front of you.

I see whats actually there. Sure not all forums are the same, but the forums have such a meandering population that most are on multiple ones.

Sure one problem is that many believe the hype from old movies, tv shows, and retailer industry hype on photography, and the dissapointment of not being the next super star because they bought a 3,000$ lens can really twist them.

[jnantz]

that's the world we have lived in for close to 150 years, a world George Eastman and Alfred Harman helped invent.

[Michael R]

that's the world we have lived in for close to 150 years, a world George Eastman and Alfred Harman helped invent.

Bruh this thread >20 years old. It's over.

[monochromeFan]

It's sad that you're choosing to view all mentors as dishonest, selfish creeps, parasites and users. That's not the world I live in, and I seriously doubt you do either. Why you want to paint the photography community with such broad strokes is a mystery. If you move forward in your pursuits with such a negative mindset, you're going to find nothing but disappointment, so I encourage you to find a different way to see what's in front of you.

Dont be disheartened, but that is somewhat the reaction I got 20 years ago when I joined the local SCA regional unit and asked them why they allowed a 30 year old female member to run around wearing a crotcheless latex bondage bodysuit.