When I first started I met a photographer who was what I call a “prima-donna”, or asshat in today’s world. He would rant and rage while shooting. All of his assistants would cower as he belittled them, humiliated them and treated them less than anyone should ever be treated.
I met one of his assistants who quit after he threw a 4×5 film holder at him because of some perceived offense. In the day, he was quite an influential photographer and had lots of work. At first, the rages were done after hours, but they slowly became visible to clients. And that was sad.
The clients would talk about his screaming and ranting and raging with a shake of the head… but they used him anyway because he was a good photographer.
The problem I had with it was three fold.
- No one should ever be treated with that level of disrespect.
- It was supremely less than professional… after all, the staff was HIS, and HE was ultimately responsible
- He was taking pictures of fkn TOWELS FOR A DEPARTMENT STORE!!!
Now yeah, I got it – being a professional means doing the absolute BEST towel shot, or box of crap shot that you can. And you tweak it till it is perfect. Feeling that it warrants rage and deep, moody brooding is – well – mental illness.
Seriously.
I only worked for him one day, and never went back. He eventually left the industry when digital came in. I sorta figured it was because throwing a compact flash card at assistants wasn’t impactful enough.
I was reminded of his idiocy a few years after the one day I assisted him, when I photographed actual brain surgery for a regional hospital chain. The mood of the two surgeons and four nurses was relaxed and respectful. They were focused on the task at hand, and broke tension with humor and good natured comments.
Brain surgery. Screw up and someone dies.
Photographing towels. Screw up and… photograph them again.
The difference was absolutely staggering… and it has stayed with me since that day.
Yes, we work very hard to make the absolute best image we can, we push those around us to perform even better than they think they can. And we do it with respect. We take great pride in presenting an absolutely perfect photograph, but that should never come at the expense of those around us.
Things have changed a lot since those days, and I don’t hear much about the “angry prima-donna drama queen” photographers. Oh, they are out there, but probably not as prevalent as they were because social media could be disastrous.
It really is important to do the best we can at what we do, but it ain’t brain surgery and no one dies if we mess up… and believe me, that is a good thing. 🙂
(PS… my assistants have always appreciated the way I treated them, and their professionalism. In fact, many of them became personal friends over the years.)
(PSS: My wonderful MUA Danita Fenn, who is still a friend today… sorry, cannot remember the name of the model. Only worked with her once.)
