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Do What You Love and Get Paid For It

Children dream of what they want to be when they grow up. They will want to be artists, rock stars, or even superheroes. They dream of fulfillment with purpose, and do not intend to live their future doing something that does not make them happy. 

When children grow up, it seems that reality will ask them to make a very difficult question; will you do what you love, or will you do what you need to do to make money? 

Fortunately, nowadays there is an expanding middle ground. An area of the economy dedicated to letting those who refuse to answer such a question. The creative economy is thriving. Creativity is an industry. You can now do what you love and get paid for it. As described by John Hartley, the creative industries are "a chance to bring together the two extremes of public art and commercial market in order to move beyond them and grasp new possibilities" (Hartley, 2005, p.g. 5). 

Eduardo Brassai, a 24 year old model photographer from Long Island, NY exemplifies this growing phenomenon. As a lifelong admirer of the arts and photography, Brassai is fulfilling his dreams within his career. "Something I feel like I am most grateful for within my work is that I get to do what I have always wanted to do, and I feel like I have the most freedom." 

Brassai started his career by discovering his passion. In his early teens he began taking photos of his friends with his first camera, and at 20 he made his passion a full time career. Working in restaurants until his 20th birthday, Brassai knew he would not be satisfied until he had reached his dream industry; photography. Starting as an intern at New York Model Management, Eduardo quickly began to grow his passion into a viable source of income and has since felt a sense of self fulfillment and has seen continual growth in his career. 

Although happily working in an industry that he loves, Brassai does recognize challenges in his field, as well as within the creative industry in general. "Like in any job, there is a lot of competition. It can be quite aggressive at times because it is quite a saturated market. You have to be very good at what you do."Although jobs within the creative industry do rely on heavily on saturation and an ever growing creative workers, being the best allows you to do what you love. The creative industry is for someone who enjoys their passion to an extent of stopping at nothing to do what they love for a living. That being said, other industries are exactly the same. Whether you devote your time and energy on getting a promotion within a company at a desk job working for the man, or dedicate your time and energy into pursuing your passion and perfecting your craft, being the best of the best in any field will always be a factor of success. 

The idea that the creative industry is exploitative does not bother those that are driven enough to get past that aspect, like Brassai. For many, the industry is a place within the market that lets their creativity be useful, recognized, and appreciated. The creative economy also allows people like Brassai to let their passion pay for their living expenses. When asked what the creative industry means to him, Brassai replied, "It allows artists to let their art meet commerce. The hardest thing as an artist to do is to be able to monetize your work. I think the industry gives people like me a platform to do what they love, and do it for a living. I think thats very important and it's something we need to protect at all costs." 


References

Hartley, J. (2005) Creative Industries. MA, 

    USA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Retrieved from 

        https://blackboard.slu.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-4356098-dt-content-rid-19184768_1/courses/202110-            17107/Hartley_Creative%20Industries.pdf

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 18, 2020 at 8:23 AM

    Great piece of creative and reflective writing Bryce. I really like its style, which is very close to feature writing.

    ReplyDelete

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