Fried Careers
November 29, 2010Q. I am a B. Com student and an amateur photographer. I would love to take photography as a full time profession but I am not too sure how viable a career it would be for me. I believe I have a sense of angles. Please advise how should I go about it to be able to make it big in the career of my dreams.
Answer:
Photography is a unique and creative medium of self-expression. It can be rewarding as a career if you have an eye for composition, technical expertise and an extremely good network. There are generally no specific academic requirements to enroll in a full time course in photography. However, candidates who have cleared the 10+2 examination are eligible for the diploma or certificate courses in photography. One can also enroll for bachelor courses in Photography or go for B.A in fine arts with photography as one of the main stream subjects.
Photographers can go on to specialize in areas such as portrait, commercial and industrial, advertising, scientific, fashion, news, wildlife photography etc. They have the alternative to either take up jobs with newspapers, magazines, advertising agencies, government agencies, industrial houses or work as freelancers. The government of India also engages photographers on a regular pay scale to do general photography documentation, for covering day-to-day events and functions and for making photo features and captioning. Fashion photographers can find employment with fashion houses, designers, fashion journals and newspapers.
As a beginner and novice photographer, the remuneration that they are paid generally ranges around Rs. 3500-6000. However, just as it happens for doctors and lawyers, the pay package is directly proportional to the talent that you have. There are people who make some Rs 8000 for a three day wedding photography to the likes of those who make a whopping 1, 80, 000.
~ Credits: Arnab Laskar, student, amateur Photographer and Sharanya Vemu, Sr. Project Manager (Microsoft) & Wedding Photographer
Query: I am a sports enthusiast, particularly football. If I have to become a footballer, how should kick start my career to be able to make it to national teams, or the likes of big European clubs like M United, Barcelona etc. Is being a sports-star is the only way you can be associated to the sports arena? I know Harsha Bhogle, who is not a cricketer. Is there any option in football and hockey?
Answer:
Football in India is governed through a tree structure. Under All India Football Federation (AIFF) is State Football Associations (SFA), District Football Association (DFA) and Clubs/Schools. Ideally the functional unit of football at any level should be a football club. But the structure in India is still unstructured. Therefore, if any youngster (below the age of 19) wants to pursue football seriously, he or she needs to play for the school team in the district championship from where, if he or she is good enough, then that person would be selected in the district team. Then through inter district tournaments, they get selected in the State teams and subsequently through inter-state tournaments, will get selected for the youth teams of India i.e. India U-19, U-16, U-14. However, if a district does not hold any championship, he or she may contact the DFA or the SFA because these bodies hold trials very often for their teams. The potential player has to be proactive to contact these bodies at the local level and afterwards based on his or her talent, get selected for the India teams.
Now for any person who is above the age of 19, he or she should play in some club. Selection into the senior team in India is done by the National Coach and he watches “League” games to identify potential players.
About being a part of big Clubs, I think it’s a step by step process. Get into the National Team, get recognized in International games and then aim for them. Or if you have a good financial backbone, you might also look at enrolling at a soccer school of a big Club that is located either in Asia or Europe and hope to get selected. But most importantly, to improve any one’s skill you have to do that through local clubs. Now, Bhaichung Bhutia is opening a soccer school in Noida along with Carlos Querez from Europe. That could be a potential place where improvement can take place.
Being a sports star is not the only way you can be associated with sport. Very good example is Hemanth and myself. Regarding a full-fledged career in sport, there are many sports management courses which take place. One needs to identify them and go for it. In India, however there are few courses one at Gwalior University, Siliguri University (not sure if this is the correct name of the University) and IISWBM at Kolkata. An ideal international course would be the FIFA Master and there are other courses conducted by IOC, Lausanne, University of Leeds, Liverpool.
~ Credits: Tathagata Mukherjee, Director – National Teams, Vision India, AIFF
Query: My cousin wants to become a professional dancer. She is currently pursuing her HS II year (Arts). She has completed her bisharad from ‘Nikhil Bharat’ in Bharatanatyam and doing her 4th year at Bhatkhande. She also stood first class 2nd in a national Bharatanatyam event under ‘Nikhil Bharat Sangeet Samiti’ held in Kolkata. She wants to pursue a career in dancing, but being from a small place (Manikpur, Bongaigaon) we need your guidance in the following areas:
1. What are the different career options available in dancing?
2. If options are there, how to go about this?
3. Is she missing something compared to dancers of advanced parts of India?
Your guidance will be much appreciated.
Answer:
We congratulate your cousin on her achievements and wish her a bright future. If Moni is sure to do her further studies in Bharatanatyam dance and take it up as a profession, then she can do her Graduation in Bharatanatyam dance from Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya (famously known as the Khairagarh University) situated in Khairagarh, Madhya Pradesh. She can take admissions after her 12th class. Also, she can get admissions in the State College of Music, Rabindra Bhawan, Guwahati. But you’ve to make sure if there lays a relevant course (Bharatanatyam dance) for her. You may contact the Principal for the same.
Alternatively, if she’s not planning to move outside her native state now, but would like to have a professional degree later, then she can take admissions for her M.A in Dance into the same University after having her Visharad or other equivalent Diploma + Graduation degree (in any field). She can also undertake her professional qualifications at the famous Kalakshetra Foundation in Chennai.
To encourage and upgrade her dancing skill, let her potential get visibility by making her attend dance workshops, reading related books/articles, performing at concerts, forming her network with established dance artistes (of any field) in the area or region, etc. Dance is a course of a lifetime; the more one is into it, the more there lays for the individual to learn. Let her take part in dance concerts or compositions (if it demands her capabilities) even if it isn’t her particular field. In this way, she’ll become more creative and would love to possess knowledge of other forms also. Along with being a devoted learner, she just requires to be promising and innovative. Rest, her hard work would become footprints for others to follow.
~Credits: Pranamee Bhagawati, Dance instructor and choreographer
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