Being a teenager is hard. Between juggling rigorous classes, a social life, extracurricular activities, family life, jobs and everything else going on, life can be hectic. Being a creative or an artist is also hard. You are relying on your creativity as a job while also trying to find your place in a world that is so consistently anti-arts. When you add being an artist on top of being a teen, you discover a whole new realm of challenges. Finding time for your art, trying to figure out what to charge for your work, facing a block of inspiration, paying for your equipment or tools, among hundreds of others things that vary on your choice of medium, is both time consuming and difficult.
Therefore, this is an article from your local photographers, musicians, painters, sculptors, drawers, writers and other creatives kindly asking you to please pay teenage artists.
Young artists consistently face adversity when trying to find their place in the art community. Their age is a factor that should not be taken into account, but it’s very often exploited. More times than not people attempt to use a teenage artist who is very talented but not pay them, offering “exposure” or “experience” instead of an actual monetary value. The issue with this comes in when you realize how much money, time, passion, and work is put into the product that an artist is creating for a consumer. Take myself for example: I am 16 year old photographer and a full time student. More often than not, people will choose to not shoot with me if I ask for any type of compensation, which is often a very low amount. There is a stigma against young creatives that we are somehow less professional or responsible than adults in the same field as us. Now, by no means am I saying young artists are always professionals, but we all work very hard if hired for a shoot or commission. An immense amount of work is put into the products of an artist.
So, why do people not want to pay young artists for their work?
Young artists consistently struggle to be taken seriously, simply because they happen to be younger than other artists. However, age is not an indicator of talent. Teen artists work incredibly hard.
The things I see happen very often among young creatives is astounding. Customers, often older, try to find any way out of paying a minimal price that the young artist wants to charge. While professionals charge extravagant amounts for their services, young artists almost always charge much, much less, even if their work is the same quality, or better, than a professionals. “Exposure” is something that is quite often offered; it’s become a ridiculous way to exploit young adults into thinking they are going to receive something for their work, when in reality, they are not. “Experience” is also something that is thrown around as an incentive to shoot with one or more persons for free. This is another ridiculous notion. Requesting to receive someone’s services for experience assumes that the artist somehow needs more work and that you deserve to be the one that they go out of the way to practice for no compensation with.
Credibility is another struggle that I have heard spoken about in the young artists community. So many consistently struggle to be taken seriously, simply because they happen to be younger than other artists. However, age is not an indicator of talent. Teen artists work incredibly hard. They are constantly working to brand themselves against the “young, inexperienced” artists stigma. Young creatives struggle day in and day out with not just branding, but finding customers, among many other challenges. That is something I wish every single person wanting to hire a young creative knew before they tried to get out of payment.
The creation of art is just as much of a legitimate job as any other.
Simply, if an artist is going to go out of their way to create something for you, or work for you, pay them. They are trying to make a living just as you are, despite their age. Keep in mind that the creation of art is just as much of a legitimate job as any other. You are receiving a service that you cannot complete on your own therefore they deserve to rewarded for their time, just as you would be if you were working at a company or office. Please open or be open to the conversation of payment the next time you want to work with someone. Help in ending the idea that young people are unprofessional or worth less than older artists, the young arts community will thank you.
