Have you always wanted to be a photographer?

I interviewed Cassandra Hannagan, a freelance photographer from Sydney about what it’s like to be a photographer.

What made you want to be a photographer? 
Coming home after travelling and living overseas for a number of years, I realised that I wanted to pursue a career doing something that I loved. I have always taken photos, since I got my terrible first camera in primary school, and having just been travelling I was taking photos all the time, and loving it, so I thought I’d give it a shot. I enrolled in a TAFE course and went from there.

What kind of jobs did you have on the way to freelance?
While I was studying I was working as a carer for people with disabilities, this was good as it was shift work that paid well, so allowed me time to study and start making contacts.  I think the very first photo job I had was shooting these big school productions where you’d then sell the photos to the parents, a good earner, but hard work and not great. Then I think I got a terrible job doing Santa photos, which didn’t last long. I started assisting Scott Cameron at Big Fish studios which was great, around my full time job. Then I assisted a wedding photographer for a while, who then introduced me to a studio manager he knew and I got a full time job as an assistant at a commercial studio, where I worked for a few years, earned my stripes and became a photographer.  While I was working there I started freelancing on the side and was shooting music festivals. I won a competition to shoot Bluesfest for the ABC, which then started a good working relationship with them. For a number of years I would shoot many events and festivals for them while I was working full time at the studio. I got another full time job at a different studio, and was still freelancing on the side. The ABC lost lots of funding which meant freelance work with them dried up, but I’d made lots of contacts shooting the festivals over the years, and started freelancing with Getty and other PR agencies.  I left my full time job last year, and have been only freelance now for a year, it’s going great! I’m earning more money and have more time. I guess it wasn’t until I tried it that I realised how many contacts for work I had made over the past 10+ years!

Do you feel being a female in the media industry has made it harder for you?
When I got that first job in the commercial studio it was full of cranky old male photographers who were quite sexist, and a few ones that weren’t. That was probably the worst time for sexism for me in my career.  That whole studio doesn’t exist now, and none of those photographers have work any more. On reflection, i’d say when I started out, the photography industry was going through the big change of switching from film to digital. This seemed to open more doors for women for some reason. At the time however, there were a lot of older male photographers who had their noses out of joint about it all, and would make it as hard for you as possible. On the other hand though, there were plenty of other male photographers who were delighted to have you on board and happy to mentor you.  I don’t really find the same level of sexism around now, which is great. I also find that while it used to be a very male-dominated industry, I find myself working with a lot more female photographers and generally female led teams. I have quite often been on shoots where there’s nearly an all female team, not necessarily by design, but just the way it worked out. I would actually say there have been instances where being female has actually helped me.  When I was working a lot for the ABC, as I was getting my career up and running, they really were my champions and I feel that they were extra proud that I was there, and I was a female. Also working for large-scale companies like Getty, it really doesn’t matter what gender you are, as long as your work stands up.

What is the most enjoyable aspect of your job?
I love it when I get given a brief and left to get on with it, and produce something that I interpreted from the brief, that was unexpected and appreciated. I also love shooting people and getting to know what they love doing and making that connection and seeing that connection come through in the photo. I’ve also loved some of the opportunities I’ve had  mostly through the ABC to meet and photograph some musicians and people that I really admire.

Have you ever had a moment as a photographer that really made you realise you were in the right industry? 
Probably when I was shooting for the ABC and we managed to get our own marquee backstage at Harvest festival which I got to set up as a studio, and then they funnelled all the musicians through to us for photos and interviews.  Those musicians were some of my idols and it was a real ‘dreams come true’ pinching yourself moment. Also when I had my exhibition out the front of the Opera House, when we were setting it up, it was pretty awesome.

What advice do you have for people hoping to get into the media industry?
It’s a bit of a tough slog at times, and you have to do some pretty hard yards with not much pay, and at times you have to dedicate all of your time to it, but if you stick it out and really want it badly enough, the rewards can be better than you could have imagined.

Also, if you can find someone who is doing well in what you want to do, try and assist them and see if they are happy to mentor you, no amount of study is as good as real-life experience. One other thing, it’s a very small industry here in Australia, always remember that, and don’t make enemies, it will come back to haunt you!.. I would say to make it in this industry, you need an equal measure of talent, contacts and a good attitude!

 

If you want to check out some of Cassandra’s work, here’s a link to a recent piece she did for the Guardian.