Nicole Craine Photography: Hiring Interns?

SO, okay. This is a tough one.

Not that I've been looking around at jobs or anything...BUT. 

I'm gonna come right out and say it-

Friends, family, patrons...please. PLEASE get over the internship obsession. It's fine having interns. It's fine to be an intern. We've all done it at some point. We've all wanted one at some point. But looking around at job classified ads in NYC makes one thing very clear- internships are being abused. I mean, why pay someone to do all the work when you can just hire an intern? The other day I saw a post for a "photographer/retoucher intern." It literally asked for someone that could "photograph and retouch images at high volume." Really? So, this topic really starts to delve into the "photography as a commodity" arena.

But, that's a post for another day.

Yeah, I remember those days. Working my ass off for someone that underestimates my talents and commitments. Being under-appreciated...under-pa...uh, not getting paid at all. Some internships were great! I worked for committed people and organizations that had a lot to offer. I learned from those experiences and had fun doing it. Without a doubt, I'm thankful for those opportunities. 

What I'm seeing now is totally different. Unestablished artists/photographers/businesses are looking for free employees. And college students are blindly falling into it. This isn't new information, but its worth talking about. More than half of job posts are for internships. You can go to job ads and find kitten/flowers/beach-scene painters looking for studio management interns (I love a good beach/sunset watercolor, btw- very 2012). I mean, its REALLY out of control. 

There is honor in starting your business on your own and taking full responsibility for the first few years. I need to understand the logistics of my business and the industry before expecting someone else to do my dirty work. I need something to offer them in return for their commitment to my vision. 

Like I said before, internships have been around and will continue to be around. Fine. But have some respect for the industry and for your business. We all want to make money, but it shouldn't be at the expense of someone else's valuable time.

That being said, Nicole Craine Photography is looking for interns.  Photo assist? Retouch? Organize files? Write blog posts? Build a website?  Pack? Ship? SOCIAL MEDIA? ....coffee?

#instaoverit

The question always comes up with photography: How much is too much?

I've been attending a few music concerts lately and despite the fact that I take band photos for professional purposes...I still deem it necessary to snap photos and video throughout the concert when I'm trying to have a good time.

Last night at the Avett Brothers, I decided enough was enough. As great as it is seeing musicians jump around on stage and lights and fog swirling around, I can't be 1/10000 images that will be taken at this show. So... I could document it and share it later. Perhaps I'll upload to instagram or post a video to my Facebook. Someone, somewhere will like it. At Bon Iver a few nights ago, I recorded the entire performance of "Skinny Love" with every intention of posting it to my Facebook.

But the truth of it all is that I can't very well enjoy the show if I spend every moment of it trying to record it. And any quick search through instagram hashtags after an event will prove that exactly 1000 other people got pretty much the same 20 pixelated photos you now possess in your iPhone archives.

It's the same reason I feel awkward taking Statue of Liberty photos...or why I cringed taking a photo of the Bob Marley sculpture in Kingston a couple of weeks ago.

The photos are taking up space on my hard drive and even as I write this...I'm just gigabytes away from needing an upgrade.

And let's face it. I care about your Egyptian pyramid photos about as much as you care about my Statue of Liberty. We all know what it looks like. Think about that the next time you upload a facebook album full of gothic buildings and graveyards...and the pic of you standing next to the local #police.

Now... enjoy my poorly recorded video of Bon Iver. You can ironically only share 40 seconds of video at a time... ?

Above photo by @ncrain20 (follow me on intagram?) (yes, that's Green Day)(don't judge)

Thanks to Itay Rahat for bringing me to all of these awesome shows!

1T Day and the Occupy Student Debt Campaign

Images taken on Wednesday April 25, 2012 of Occupy Student Debt protest declaring "1T Day"- the day student loan debt reached 1 trillion dollars. Rally began in Union Square as protesters gathered and prepared to march. The "Billionaires for Debt" enacted a skit "celebrating" the 1 trillion mark in debt for students. Jill Stein for the Green Party (as seen with WE.O.U $1 Trillion sign) came out to show support for the protestors. After music, skits, and speeches, students burned their loan statements and proceeded to march to Wall Street where protestors were allowed to take the steps of the Federal Reserve Museum where the Bill of Rights is currently on display. The last photo is of Andrew Ross, NYC Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis after his final speech acting as a banker showing support of the protest.

Photoshoot with Laura and Erica

Images from photoshoot with Laura Lima and Erica Famojure. Taken on August 13, 2011. Data recovery rocks, btw.

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Happy Valentines Day from Nicole Craine!

Nicole Craine= Me

That's right. No posts for nearly 6 months and this is what you get. A penis with a red bow.

Above image by: yours truly.

Whiter is better. No?

So if I haven't already consumed at least 20 seconds of your life this morning by posting this photo on my facebook, I'm about to consume a few minutes more to elaborate on an interesting trend in advertising and media. But we will start with this Dove VisibleCare advertisement, because... let's face it, it's kinda, well, f*cked up... and an excellent example of what not to do in the 21st century.

I'm certainly no biomedical engineer (nice switch-up from rocket scientist), but the plus size black model appears to begin the Dove VisibleCare regimen as seen under the word "before" and after her transition from a Latina woman, finishes off as a blonde, skinny white woman as seen under the word "after."As a photographer, I would find it very difficult to completely overlook all the details in the above photo. It's almost like a road map to fitness, lightness, and smooth skin. And despite how boring the overall ad really is, in exactly 5 seconds an eyebrow went up. How many designers and art directors had to look over this thing? I'm talking about the people who are hired to give these ads the evil-eye.

Galvon Laessig from Buzzfeed says, "Dove vehemently denies this ad was intended to be racist. Unintended racism isn't much better."

I agree.

Now, to expand on the black to white transition... I'm looking at you, Michael...(dead people jokes=bad).  No, seriously. What's going on with Beyonce? Black in real life. White on paper. I was walking through the subway the other day when I noticed what appeared to be a white Beyonce ad. Actually, that's exactly what it was. I couldn't find the subway ad I saw, but I'll use Loreal as the guinea pig here:

Anyone?

Ranting

Over the last couple of weeks, I've found myself at a stand-still with my photography. So I have done the unthinkable and decided to "take a break" from my male nudes series and pursue photographing the women in my family for the time being. Although I rarely discuss my family history, current situations and so on, documenting some of my folks actually has much to do with my interest in photographing men in the first place. For the most part, relationships with men have been rocky ones and have influenced every woman in my family on various levels. In retrospect, I strongly connect my male nudes series to the roots of my southern family and how women are expected to act or be treated around the household.

This past weekend, I decided to take a trip to Alabama to spend some time with my great grandmother and relatives out in the middle of nowhereville. So, I come to document my family and as I'm sitting in the living room, something runs into the house! Well, luckily I was present because apparently no one thought anything of what sounded like a crater landing in the front yard. So... one of the joys of being a photographer....

What landed on the front porch? Oh, that was a car. And then there was the guy wedged into it. Well, I did call 911. And then? I snapped some photos. I have never been this up close to someone nearly dead! I hope the guy lived because that was one hell of a scary sight. After a couple of hours and a team of about 40 people, the guy was lifeflown to the Birmingham hospital.

So I went to Alabama to photograph family and I came back with this:

I'm not sure it really goes with the family series, but it has to count for something!