I realized last night, after some tough love on a forum, that I've been looking for clients in all the wrong places. Or rather, misunderstanding what I really want. I had to ask myself why was I going down this road??? I'm pretty good at my photography (I think), but I couldn't understand how to get people to pay me.
I've never had a community around me that supports the arts. As a musician I was always told, "you better have a fall back plan. Music will never pay the bills." When I moved to photography it was much the same. "It's ok to have fun with a camera in your hand. But if you don't have a REAL job, you'll be poor forever." Well fuck that!
I'm going on the search. I gotta find people in #Chicago that ACTUALLY appreciate what I do rather than call it dirty shite. I want to find people who rant and rave about my choice of pose and see the shape of a girls bottom as something MORE than sexual... something that can be artistic without crossing that line.
Do they exist? I hope so! Just like I hope there's enough women who love seeing themselves in that light who also respect the craft of what I do enough to help me pay my bills and feed my family for it. I think I've FINALLY gotten over the feeling of me taking advantage of other people... not I just have to let them help!
