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The power asymmetry massively favouring the production house in this case is the reason they are able to make such an aggressive demand as having a professional

The power asymmetry massively favouring the production house in this case is the reason they are able to make such an aggressive demand as having a professional work intensively for a week for no pay in the first place. I don’t think you would be given much space to negotiate because they would just move down the line to the next person willing to work for free but without all your requirements. It’s a very different world from software development. Imagine what Google would pay to bring on a consultant for a week of important work...

hosh 5y ago
There was an article series I once read about negotiating the terms of a software development job. There is asymmetry there, though not as lopsided for photography. The article also goes on to say how the run of the mill software developer are not getting as much as they could be getting. I mentioned exploitation in my earlier comment. For me, this is part of a much larger issue stemming from the prevailing paradigm we have that attempts to extract as much value out of things. I don’t frame this in terms of abuse of power; how much leverage one brings to the table matters. Instead, it is the underlying paradigm that treats people as resources from which value is squeezed out of it. Whether we are talking about return on shareholder value, or using adversarial interactions and competition to maximize market efficiency, or maximizing profit, those are all expressions of Value Extraction. To come back full circle with an alternative perspective: you might have a producer and a production company that enjoys fostering new talent and creative voices. Inviting a photographer to join, not necessarily for the exposure, but for challenging work that cultivates their art. What does a wedding really mean? How can photos be taken to express that? And so forth.

hosh 5y ago

There was an article series I once read about negotiating the terms of a software development job. There is asymmetry there, though not as lopsided for photography. The article also goes on to say how the run of the mill software developer are not getting as much as they could be getting. I mentioned exploitation in my earlier comment. For me, this is part of a much larger issue stemming from the prevailing paradigm we have that attempts to extract as much value out of things. I don’t frame this in terms of abuse of power; how much leverage one brings to the table matters. Instead, it is the underlying paradigm that treats people as resources from which value is squeezed out of it. Whether we are talking about return on shareholder value, or using adversarial interactions and competition to maximize market efficiency, or maximizing profit, those are all expressions of Value Extraction. To come back full circle with an alternative perspective: you might have a producer and a production company that enjoys fostering new talent and creative voices. Inviting a photographer to join, not necessarily for the exposure, but for challenging work that cultivates their art. What does a wedding really mean? How can photos be taken to express that? And so forth.