What Do YOU Do?
Being a social creature, new people I encounter often pose the question, “What do you do?” I usually answer, “Well…I have 2 businesses, actually – web development and photography.” Why is it that most people appear to be sorry they asked?
Sometimes, I think it’s the web developer part of the answer that throws people off. Maybe they’re thinking that, because this classifies me as a geek, we can’t possibly have anything further to discuss. It’s certainly rare for someone to ask further about it, so I know it’s not going to being a conversation starter.
The thing is, I usually get the same response when I leave off the web developer side of the equation. If someone does inquire further, it’s usually with, “Oh……Do you do portraits?” It’s a major battle within at this point to keep my wiseguy side from responding, “Actually, no…You couldn’t pay me to do portrait work!” No, I refrain and usually say something like, “Yes, and pretty much anything else involved with photography.” I’m beginning to wonder if I shouldn’t let my wiseguy side have his day once to see what happens. Perhaps the shock on the person’s face might be the opening to an interesting conversation about the services I offer. But I’ve strayed from my main message a bit, so I’ll address this matter in another post.
The fact is, rather than reacting with real interest, inevitably the person gets a ‘deer-in-headlights’ look on their face and noticeably search for a new topic to switch to. Do I grow horns at the mention of the word, ‘photographer’? Do they suddenly get a whiff of my breath? What gives here???
So, if it’s not the horns or my breath, what is putting people off when I tell them I’m a photographer? Not only is it a business for me, it’s one of great passions! Have I been toning that down too much? Should I be leaking a bit of my passion out when I declare that I’m a photographer? Is my lack of enthusiasm a statement to them in opposition to the fact that this is what I really want to be doing with my life? I have tested this theory on occasion and the results have varied, so the jury’s still out on this in my book.
What I really think is going on lies deep within most people’s psyche. I don’t know about you, but I hate having my picture taken. Just saying it invokes a primitive fear of loss – my picture being taken. Capture is a better word, as it implies I had a chance of preventing it. Take sounds like I had no choice in the matter and someone more powerful than I has taken advantage of me. Just thinking about it makes me cringe!!!
This ties into most people’s experience of being photographed. It most often has involved being ‘posed’ in an awkward position and having to smile when it’s the last thing you feel like doing, especially when you’re next to someone you’d rather not be in the same town as, let alone sitting/standing next to! Or maybe it’s the yearly drudgery of your grade school photograph, knowing you’re going to look like a dork and your parents will be moaning when they see how much the cheapest package of prints is going to cost them. When I consider this, it’s small wonder people don’t shoot me on sight!!!
Maybe the answer is a new title to replace ‘photographer’. How about ‘immortalizer’? Perhaps ‘portrait specialist’ would be better? What’s your suggestion? My future introductions are awaiting your ideas.
