Everyone thinks it would be great to work for National Geographic. So did I. Peter Menzel More Quotes by Peter Menzel More Quotes From Peter Menzel Do something you like that you feel is important. Don't worry about making money at it right away. If you try hard and long enough you will figure out a way to do it. Better to die happy than die rich. Peter Menzel importantworrylong Think about the photo you want to make beforehand. Then do it, but also don't be blind to better options that present themselves at the location. Be flexible, and be patient. Leave ego at home. Get the photo before you yell at the asshole, not after. Peter Menzel egohomethinking It is so much better to get the right exposure than to have to mess around later with Photoshop. Peter Menzel photoshopexposuremess I fell in love with traveling and thought being a photographer would be an interesting way to travel and make a living. Peter Menzel would-bewayinteresting We live in an idiotic capitalist self-indulgent society where the sex life of a pop star is more important than impending starvation, land mines and child soldiers in Africa, or more interesting than the world's biggest man-made natural disaster in oil fields of the Middle East. Peter Menzel starschildrensex Pre-planning is essential. Research, research, research. If you are going to do a portrait, know as much as you can about the person beforehand. The web makes this very easy. Peter Menzel portraitsessentialsresearch Having a partner who is your wife traveling with you can be great. We each have our roles in the work and then can help each other out on the emotional front when things get stressful, which they are. Peter Menzel emotionalwiferoles Europeans still read rather than watching TV or listening to their clergyman tell them how to vote. The European magazines are far superior to American magazines in content and readership, but TV is taking a bite out of circulation now even in Europe. Peter Menzel watching-tvlisteningeurope To me a translator is very, very important. If the fixer is also the translator, so much the better. I have known photographers who didn't speak the language and would work in a place for weeks without one, getting by on common sense and smiles. But how many situations did they miss because they couldn't talk to someone and get the back story on details, small daily life things, etc. Peter Menzel common-senseimportantmissing With the Internet, you can get lots of info in advance, but a local person who knows how to work the system is invaluable. Peter Menzel know-howinternetpersons It's important to get a translator who will ask the questions in a sensitive and thoughtful way. Knowing the ethnicity issues, the tribal issues in some places...who your translator is can mean a lot. Peter Menzel thoughtfulethnicitymean After I discovered my degree in photojournalism would only get me a job in a camera store, I taught myself lighting. I read tons of magazines and books and studied the photos trying to figure out how they were done. I bought some flash equipment and played around until I figured out how to make a subject look as I envisioned it should look. Peter Menzel tryingjobsbook The summer of 1966, I hitch-hiked alone for two months all over Europe instead of working on a farm in Spain. It was a big game to see how much I could see on $400. This got me hooked on traveling. Peter Menzel gamessummereurope The fact that a thirteen-year-old project still resonates and can still have a large exhibit with lots of newspaper, magazine and TV press shows the timelessness of the project. Peter Menzel magazinesfactsyears I have a completely worthless degree: a BS in Photojournalism from Boston University (BU). With this degree, I suppose I could have gotten a job teaching grade school kids how to photograph their relatives, but knowing about B&W photo processing and developing and how to shoot a picture story is good basic info that every photographer should have. Peter Menzel teachingjobsschool I drove a taxi at night during my last year at BU and then for another 18 months after graduating in order to buy cameras and pay the rent while I tried to figure out for myself how to freelance. Peter Menzel nightorderyears It is tough being patient when you are more than a half million dollars in debt. Peter Menzel debtdollarshalf My modus operandi after working for a decade as a self-funding freelancer, was to spend as little money as possible to get the job done, even if it was on someone else's nickel. Peter Menzel doneselfjobs I've heard Braggadocio about excess baggage charges, multiple unused hotel rooms, and rental cars held unused for long periods of time, which makes me lose respect for certain photographers. Sometimes it's worth it to spend money on a good idea, but wasting money makes me ill. Peter Menzel excess-baggagelongideas I don't shoot many corporate or commercial jobs, but when you do, you had better have someone helping who has done it before. Peter Menzel donehelpingjobs
