Pandemic and freelancing

Anyone who will be reading this article, to let you know I am writing it during the phase of 21days of complete lockdown in India. Corona has crippled the world and forced us to think about what are we leaving behind us.

As a freelancer it scares the hell out of me about my coming days and my survival skills will be tested, being the best is not the question, it is all about how you perceive it. Yes, the days will be brought to normal but the real question is, will we see ourselves and our world around us in the same way? Awakening of the desires we have and our needs will be questioned and I am pretty sure everyone will not be affected and it will be easy for them to get back to the time they were there.

As a freelancer our survival is based on many factors and a good economy will push to keep us hanging on with our passion. Sadly it is no more about individual dreams, many who acquire jobs will be in a spot to lose, their livelihood will be affected and a chain reaction will be the next pandemic to take care of. Yes! I may be thinking the worst of worst but let us prepare ourselves for it.

Hang on! I am not writing this article to scare you, in fact, let us see how to go about it.

TO NOTE: I don't know how the coming days will be and how it is going to hit the economy and how much time it will take, for us all to raise the bar again, but let us be hopeful.

PRODUCE FRESH CONTENT: If you are a photographer, retoucher, CGI artist, illustrator, cinematographer and more, it is a good phase to produce fresh content to add it to your portfolio, keeping self productive is the best way to go about the times we are going. To add, with no pressure from any client and with no external expectation create the best you can. We all crib about the fact of not having enough time to create what we wished to and I don't think anyone has any excuse to give now with clients potentially understanding the situation, I am pretty sure they will not kill you to create for yourself. If they do, they are not worthy to be a potential client.

ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE and ORGANIZE: The biggest culprit for many who work from home is the messy situation we live in (I, myself included) and however you deny and you say it does add to your millennial saga, a messy place does no good. A clean desk and a clean space both physically and digitally uplift your productivity.

HAVE HOBBIES: Side hustles or interest will never be more important than the coming times, let's be honest, past recession and demonetization in India had hit the market bad for it to come back to a well to do state after 2 years and the current situation with thousands of people passing away in the most merciless manner and many, I mean MANY are off their jobs will disturb the economy for people to shed enough for marketing purposes keeping their employees as the prime importance and it is indeed fair enough. Incase global pandemic hits bad be ready to earn the same with many more hustles you need to take care of.

LEARN SELF MARKETING: It is one art which many fail to do and many find it way too less important to invest ourselves every day, marketing is how we find products for our needs, simultaneously marketing is the way potential client will get to know us. How you wish to market self is a discovery which you need to do and will get to know eventually as time passes and observe how our viewers react to it.

Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Google business page are a few platforms that let us shine the way we wish to.

• You should understand the algorithm ethics each platform is made off and how to use it to your benefit

• Instagram and Facebook are very much to do with timing, tagging, hashtagging and quality of content.

• Keep the quality of content as organic, high quality and as handmade as possible, think about the user or audience you wish to cater to.

• Keep your content short and brief especially stories.

• Always have something to give away to your audience.

• Use sites like Creator Studio to schedule posts (stories cant be scheduled) in case you are busy enough to give needed time to it on a daily basis. Youtube videos can be scheduled too.

• Let people peep into your studio, people are more curious about behind the scenes than the final product, grab your phone shoot it here and there and edit it to make a 15 to a 30-second video. (I just sounded like a hypocrite, lol, I need to share my side too)

• Keep your agenda clear, don't post not so needed content which is not related to your persona or page. No one wants to know what you eat on everyday basis unless you are a health influencer.

SUPPORT LOCAL VENDORS AND INDUSTRY: We Indians are obsessed with anything fancy and foreign return. In the scene of global crisis, it should be our prime goal to support local industries and vendors to get them back on track, they have and will be a part of the national economic backbone, the vendors in return need to raise their output quality. International transaction does add value and gives direct competition to the indie which will put the national economy far more in debt in the future.

I strongly suggest, if your situation is somewhere accompanied with deep pockets don't break your savings, I am no master in economics and all the above is based on my personal experience, we all wish to recover from the present state ASAP but let's be hopeful and let us prepare ourself for the worst in-case!

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Hii, I am Shovona, a freelance commercial photographer who resides in the economic hub of India, Mumbai. As an artist, freelancer and a businesswoman, money, and creativity always intrigue me and I am passionate enough to share my knowledge with others too.

Feel free to contact me for any portrait, corporate, food, product photography related queries or just drop a hi! at

shovonakar@gmail.com

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I DIDN't go to a photography college and why?

We here in India are always guarded with a set of parents who are overprotective about things that surround us. Since the time we are born and as long as they are alive they guard us to their lives, which is very parental and we understand but its important to come out of the comfort zone to know what we are and I will be happy to say I am lucky enough to have parents who let me be me. I have set of friends who chose to do things that were planned by their parents and some are happy to be where they are and some are what they are and it is totally fine.

Anyone trying to fly off in the air or trying to fly in the different directions are either mocked or questioned unless they are proved wrong. Doing something unconventional is a new trend and many parents are understanding the benefits, the escape from the overcrowding applications vs a limited scope.

Reality shows have thrown the needed light, but yet many occupations still need some education to be fed about.

Why I am talking about parents? Cause we are a set of people belonging to a generation who falls right in the middle of the conservative and liberal era of career choices. Many career choices are still a myth and many including ourself raise questions against.

Alike other folks my parents wanted me to join an engineering or medical stream but I ended up doing visual arts, practically as an academic qualification. Photography was not a part of my curriculum but that's what I do full time and I guess I was lucky enough to come across resources that helped me to raise my skills in a short time. At the present point of time where education is becoming more and more of a leisure, a fancy opportunity with the raising fees due to various factors, going to a college is a question for many. Schooling is still a must and I insist to finish it, having a basic education is a must well many are deprived of that too.

With various online educational forums coming into the scene which does give quality content against very pocket-friendly fees is raising a good question in mind if it is worth going to a physical college. All I know from not going to a dedicated photography college is having practical experience matters.

Any college is a combination of practical and theory regarding the respective subject, the deadlines help us to be on track but then why many people don't succeed, psychologically when we are asked to do things we tend not to do it and many times we excel in those. Something similar happened to me too.

I generated my own course and as there was no pressure and expectation I enjoyed it more than what I was supposed to do. I didn't have competition or anyone to get compared with which led me to be a free bird and do my mistakes and learn and self realize.

Expectations are a big enough factor for many to fail and give up on things one is supposed to do.

its a subjective yet very objective thing to talk about.

• If you don't have funds to create a space and have the desired equipment to do things just for yourself, going to a college and sharing the space and equipment is a good way to go about.

• If you feel and think being a free bird with no deadlines will not help you to cover things up faster with the needed love and desire for your subject, college is meant for you.

• Education is a never-ending process and we can simply add on to what we know, irrespective you try to learn something new.

• Going to college is a question depending on the nature of opportunity you will have access to post finishing a course.

• Migration to a different country with better livelihood and opportunity is a good excuse to join a college and it does have benefits.

• Rising international educational fees is a good excuse to look for the scope of being at home.

• Almost all the unconventional streams are not anymore tied to going to college yet being a doctor, lawyer, an engineer and more do have its debate but personally I will suggest going to one to get your basics clear.

Going to an educational institution for its strategic academic can and do a lot of financial stress over one and a family but its indeed a personal choice. A choice which was not a choice a decade ago. It is quite admirable to understand how education is free-flowing and how approachable it is to the extent it's in your hand in the form of a smartphone.

The thing which helped and helps me to survive is the practical aspect of my profession, the experience I had in person and the knowledge I gained gradually. The process of reading about photography to holding one in hand and creating images to processing and manipulating one helped me to be one in the market and good enough to charge which supports my living. I am not sure how much a college would have helped me if I had joined one, sadly the knowledge I gained being an art historian doesn't exactly help me professionally but it helps to add a perspective to things that add value to me and my brand...

Joining a college is a way to get self-validated in the form of certificates and degrees but one should run for the quality of education irrespective its in the comfort of your own home or having a scheduled academic lifestyle.

I am a freelance commercial photographer based out of Mumbai, India, who clicks food, people, portrait and product extensively for many national and international brands and production houses. I ended up teaching myself the skills required to run a firm and do the needed as any business requires, self-realization is my mantra and I understand things better as my guts help me along.

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For any work, queries feel free to connect me at the below

email: shovonakar@gmail.com

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