Words not only have meanings, they insinuate something about whomever they describe. An entire chapter on language was included in the book MORE Best Business Practices for Photographers, titled "A Linguistically Accurate Lexicon", for that very reason.
Consider the characterization of a person of the female gender. The word "girl", "woman", "lady", "chick, "madam", and "doll", all carry similar sentiments to "boy", "man", "gentleman", "dude", "sir", and "guy" for a person of the male gender. The disparity between saying "that boy over there" versus "that young man over there" is not lost on the recipient of that characterization, nor is "please help the chick with her luggage" versus "please help the lady with her luggage" in a hotel lobby.
Fast Company recently wrote an article about the value in stopping calling yourself a "freelancer" (12/3/15, "Why I stopped calling myself a freelancer"), and I commend it to you.
What can you do?
Avoid introducing yourself using that word. Don't say "Hi, I'm a freelance photographer", or even, "I'm a freelancer." Instead try:
- I'm a professional photographer
- I produce photography on assignment for a range of clients
- I'm a photographer
- I'm a photojournalist
- I'm an independent photographer
I work for a variety of clients in the...
- News business
- Industrial sector
- Public relations area
- Magazine industry
...etc.
Avoid using it in your LinkedIn profile, your resume, CV, or biography. Describe what you do instead. Don't use derogatory shorthand. Saying "I'm a freelancer" is derogatory compared to "I'm a professional photographer", almost like calling saying "get the guy a coffee" when what you should have said was "get the gentleman a coffee" instead.
Another point from the Fast Company article was that "freelance" connoted cheap or low-cost, something I don't think any professional photographer would want themselves characterized as. You want to be considered a "premium" - as in:
- "he's an amazing football photographer..."
or - "she's an incredible portrait photographer..."
or - "he's a wonderful wedding photographer..."
or - "she's a stunning storyteller with her images from around the world..."
(Comments, if any, after the Jump)
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