So you asked why DEI #WhyDEI

Read the whole thread for my personal experience on #whyDEI matters.

#photography #womenswork

#whyDEI? So that later generations read stories like mine, and can’t imagine a time when anyone would tell them they can’t work a job, because they are a lady. #womenswork

But these are the before times the current admin wants to return us to.

Now, those who have only known the #digitalnative times when anyone could buy a DSLR, might not realize (or even fathom) how hard it was to make it as a young female photographer, unless you had a major funds, connections, and/or specialized in “women’s” subject matter… like kids’ portraits… #whyDEI

After struggling to make my way in commercial and editorial #photography, and without funds for pro equipment and a studio of my own, I ended up giving up my dream and taking my creative skills elsewhere, where there was high enough demand to hire even women… in web design. #whyDEI #womenswork

I found out that the local newspaper I wanted to work for only hired male photographers. I continued to work weddings and fashion and ones where they wanted a female to “style”… #whyDEI #womenswork

I had to work twice as hard, and hustle many times harder to get gigs as a photo assistant and photographer, as a “girl.” At the time, there were only 2 women in the local industry, outside of fashion. And even they hired only young men.
#whyDEI #womenswork

One photographer told me he hired me as an assistant because execs wouldn’t mind if I brushed lint off their jacket or adjusted their sleeve cuffs. Another, only because he thought women could style products. #whyDEI #womenswork

Another photographer told me that he could never hire women as assistants, because the places he went, there were all men, and they didn’t have women’s bathrooms. And he couldn’t possibly be seen having a woman carrying his equipment. (cont.) #whyDEI #womenswork

Picture yourself going places There's nothing wrong with dreams. But how about making them come true? can do it, if you're willing to try! Look around you. The men who are going places are the trained men. They've learned special skills that bring them better jobs and higher pay. It's the men without training whose dreams never come true.

#whyDEI While in university & after, I wanted to be a commercial photographer. At the time, it was an apprentice-based profession, so I worked to get assistant jobs.

For the first time, I had a potential employer tell me flat out to my face that he didn’t hire women. (cont.) #womenswork