I just have to say that the antagonism shown toward James Nachtwey for his posting in search of an unpaid intern is just ridiculous. The main jibe thrown at him is that for some who works to bring exploitation and conflict to light in hopes of bringing about change, not paying an intern while requiring them to be highly skilled is hypocritical and exploitative. Threads like that really disgust me. Tearing viciously into James Nachtwey of all people for looking for an intern! He’s asking someone to make HIS PRINTS and do some post, not dig in a coal mine, for god’s sake! Like his work or not, it’s still totally uncalled for. (Fortunately, there’s some reasonable comments over at The Online Photographer.)
You can easily file this one under “Overblown Internet Drama” but I think it raises a good question of what an internship is. Is it a job? Or is it a class? It’s very difficult for me to view a chance to observe Nachtwey at work as exploitation. That’s some strange exploitation there. It’s like expecting other people to pay for the privilege of educating you.
Now, I am one to believe that education should be free, but I don’t think I’d go so far as to say that the educators should pay the students to show up. And that’s what this really is – not a job but a practicum class. Is it a job where they stick someone in a closet and tell you to do 10 straight hours of post? Or is there an opportunity to learn, to speak to the man himself? Those are things you cannot tell from the ad.
At the least, it’s a chance to meet a photographer, possibly make a good impression and get to know some other people in the field. Some forms of compensation aren’t monetary, but they are in fact probably worth more, will lead to a living down the line with some patience. You’ve gotta be retarded to think getting paid peanuts to work for some no name photographer is better than getting paid nothing to work for Nachtwey.
Not to mention he’s asking for 3 days a week, so the intern could conceivably find a part time job those other 4 days of the week… If you really believe in wage reform, then use your work to promote those ideas, but in the meantime, any aspiring photojournalist in the area who has free time would be insane not to jump at the chance.
And I don’t buy the “highly skilled” labor in exchange for nothing argument either. Yes, knowing Photoshop basics, Lightroom, scanning and ICC profile management are skills, but damn, do you know any aspiring photographer serious enough to apply for internships who doesn’t have those skills?
It’s certainly no excuse to say, “well, everyone else uses unpaid interns,” but it seems to me that not paying interns is a not-so-pretty way of weeding out the people who aren’t 100% dedicated, of giving those who really want it a crack at a special opportunity. I was watching Inside the Actor’s Studio with Renee Zellweger while making dinner the other day and she said that at one point, while going to call backs, she had all of $12 in the bank and couldn’t even get that out since it’s less than the minimum $20 that the ATM dispenses. In an ideal world everyone is paid well for their time, but what can a person do if the field is so competitive that people are willing to do work for free, if others are simply willing to endure more than you are?
UPDATE: Jamie is now asking industry folk as well as Nachtwey studios to weigh in on this for future posts. Might be very interesting!
While the commentary on this post came at an unexpected and surprising level, I believe this speaks to greater industry issues that need to be addressed directly.
Therefore, I have decided to invite industry leaders in a series of postings over the next week to write posts that deal specifically with the issues you all have discussed. I have invited the heads of major publications, professional organizations and independent photographers to respond to this topic is a formal and educational discourse.
3 Comments
I’d like to point out that you are rewriting the ad to justify your argument. It explicitly asks for advanced skills and proficiency. It asks for a minimum of 3 days of work and extra when needed. It says ‘Must work well under pressure’ and ‘We are a small operation with an enormous workflow and no time can be wasted’.
An internship is not a class. Even if you are doing simple things as an intern you are helping your employer achieve their business goal. When you are in a class your teaches is paid to be there to achieve your educational goals. That difference is important.
I can see that you have great respect for his work (‘HIS PRINTS’) and this is where your defence comes from. What does it tell you about the work relations in the industry? Demanding a 100% commitment is a way to justify practices that should not be taking place.
To be honest, I don’t really like his photos all that much, but my point was just that I think it’s a little ridiculous the way that people accuse him of being a hypocrite since his work is about the plight of people who are in really horrific conditions.
While I agree that unpaid internships suck, the people who take them are not really suffering in the same way. A discussion about unpaid internships in the industry would be really interesting, but to focus on Nachtwey as if he was the worst of the lot just because his work is about poverty and suffering in developing nations is strange. It’s not clear to me that people in that thread have any idea of things they can do about the general state of unpaid internships. They just want to tear into N.
And I think we are really in no position to judge because we don’t know the state of his finances. I’m sure he does well, but he is running his studio, presumably paying the other two assistants, and who knows if he can afford another one. I’m not saying he can’t, but we’re presuming a lot!
Yes, they require more time when needed, but this is for 3 months min. and I assume you have some leeway about when you leave. To do this for a summer is hardly so bad. Even getting a part time job or take a few assignments for 2 days a week would defray costs enough that sacrificing 3 months wages would not be quite so devastating if your costs aren’t high. The point and what I’d like to hear others’ opinions on is that there are always those people who are willing to make ridiculous sacrifices. I’m just not sure that it’s always true that they are the “privileged ones.”
But I don’t claim to know a lot about these matters, so I’d love to hear some input.
Hmmm, here’s another post on this.
And to clarify, by emphasizing his prints I meant that this is an opportunity to do some high-level work for him, not just to fetch coffee, though I’m sure that’ll be required too. To me, being asked to do skilled work is better than not. You have a chance to learn about those aspects of his operation rather than being stuck in gopher land. No, it’s not a class, but a person can treat it as such. Don’t forget that you can ASK QUESTIONS. Maybe they don’t state explicitly in the ad that they will teach you anything, but for christ’s sake, you can take the initiative. I’d hope they aren’t types who would just give you the brush off about everything. But again, we don’t know either way.
I’m not sure what it is about the creative industries that require so many unpaid interns, but it’s the same in sound engineering too. Most of the time you intern for free doing the shittiest jobs, and hope that they like you enough to take you on on a paid basis later. Maybe part of it is that they want to try you out before signing you to a binding contract.
But another thing is that all the outraged folks seem to be implying that he is heartless. If an intern ran into real financial difficulties in the middle of the internship, would he tell them to get lost? Maybe he would, maybe would offer them a little pay. Who knows? What is written policy to ward off the slackers and how much people are actually willing to work with you are two different things in my experience.
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