This week I got booked to shoot a business expo in Long Island. Far from the corporate type, and there representing a media company, it was a little bit like being a fish out of water.
A room full of suits, and here we were in t-shirts, making our rounds for interviews to help promote everyone's individual businesses. It was very much an enviroment that was along the lines of what I left at IBM a long time ago.
With that, I was both in it, and distanced from it.
Everyone has been talking about the state of the economy. It is much of THE conversation lately. I think this was the first indication to me, of what is really going on out there.
A high percentage of people that came to our booth, said hello and immediately went through a 30 second pitch of who they were, how/or why they'd been laid off, all followed by a "are you hiring?"
I mean, no buffer, no small talk, just right in there. People's survival instincts are in full bloom. It came in all shapes and sizes, particularly all ages. In business suits and modest dresses. It came out.
It sparked a conversation with friends, after the gig was up, and aided in re-realizing the art of being an artist.
Truth be told, artists (those who grow from the bottom up) are used to this kind of economic ebb and flow. We work project to project, check to check, and some weekly, monthly, and yearly have to hit the ground looking for contiuous work, to help the finances web together seamlessly. We are used to this, and we're built for it. Are artists better prepared for this economic environment?
I find the hardest hit were those who lived in the illusion that it could never happen to them. It can always happen to anyone. If feel, in our lives, even the most wealthy need to know what it's like to tread along the bottom while still staying afloat.
"There are so many life lessons...everyone keep your head up!When written in Chinese, the word "crisis" is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity. "
John F. Kennedy
