The first classmate to return my call, Kristine Paulsen, is a photographer who is working part-time at the Montana Food Bank Network. She makes sure they have an accurate count of the number of people making withdrawals.
She's glad she has a job that benefits people who need help, but continues to look for a way to make photography pay the bills. She's got a few freelance gigs coming up, and hopes they'll beget more.
It's no stretch to say that Paulsen's after-graduation prospects were good. After finishing her master's thesis, a multimedia project on the human toll of the W.R. Grace vermiculite mine in Libby, Mont. (viewable here), she headed to an intership at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Her second intership, it was a big step up to a large paper.
"It was a great internship," she says. "That's why I'm so heartbroken about what's happening to them." She's referring to the imminent end of the PI's print edition. She feels for the paper's staffers, who have all been told their jobs will end soon, except for a skeleton crew of 10 to keep the online edition alive.
After that the job search began in earnest. The internship lasted through the summer of 2008, and because she was at the PI, she couldn't apply for the jobs that she saw advertised. But after the internship was over, she just wasn't seeing the same number of photographer jobs. And despite having contacts, few leads have turned up.
The past few months have been especially bad. Paulsen is a member of the National Press Photographer's Association, and says that there haven't been any openings advertised through them for two months. "Photo jobs are non-existent," she says.
With a number of newspapers failing and others freezing hiring, her struggle is not surprising. In fact, Paulsen was aware of trouble in the industry when she started her master's at UM in 2006. "I knew it was rough," she said. "I had [a friend] telling me that. But I didn't think it would completely implode."
The upcoming freelancing gigs give her hope, and renewed interest in her master's project due to the W.R. Grace trial helps to maintain confidence in her abilities "People at the PI said I was one of the best interns," she says. "It's just not the right time."
You can see Kristine's photos at www.kristinepaulsenphotography.com.
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Nice work, Brett. Just a couple quick clarifications - I have a temp job with the Montana Food Bank Network...very different from the food banks here in town. I'm an assistant to the agency relations coordinator who deals with numerous food pantries/meal programs throughout the state.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the P-I is not dead yet! As of now, they are still producing a print version since Hearst is dragging out their decision and won't let anybody know when they're releasing the guillotine until next week. It's very likely the paper will be reduced to a skeleton crew of 10 or so folks (with only 1 photog!!! the gall!) to run an online version. But even that may not happen and the P-I may go kaput completely.
Anyway...just thought I'd add that.
Looking forward to the other profiles!
-Kristine
Gotcha - I made the food bank correction.
ReplyDeleteI didn't mean to give the impression that the PI has already ceased to be. I do think it is accurate to predict the imminent demise of the print edition.
Hearst may keep the online edition going for awhile, but from what I can see, they have no plans to continue the print edition.
Sad days.
Hang in there Kristine! I toss your name out every time someone even breathes a hint of a photographer job! It'll come...
ReplyDeleteThank you to anonymous! (By the way, who are you, anonymous?)
ReplyDelete-Kristine
By the way, the P-I is now officially no longer in existence as a print edition. Sigh.
ReplyDelete-Kristine