Inner-city blues

One of the frustrating parts of being freelance is the ebb and flow of work. It is naturally unpredictable and therefore slow weeks leave you feeling very cut off from your surroundings. I have many friends who went straight from uni into well paid city jobs, or into careers that offered long climbs but interesting and challenging stimulation along the way. In some ways photography is frustrating in that there are no set paths, even if you end up very successful in your game the work can still dry up (so I've been told). There is no security, no supporting team to strive forward with or fall back on, no Christmas parties, no paid holiday, no sick leave. It's a mixed blessing because when things are good it can be a great feeling, but when things are slow, it becomes easy to feel like you're drowning and being left behind and it can be tremendously lonely. I think all my photographer friends know this feeling. I guess it hit me more so today after I had finished a meeting with a client in the city and I stood and watched people hustle and bustle through their days, always rushing from one task to the next. I'm not sure their lives are any easier or more rewarding, but it's hard to know for sure when you've never been part of it. I find people envying my job as much as I sometimes envy theirs. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.