2025 02 18
Have you had your ad break today? Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
I’m doing a lot of thinking and researching into video lately as I re-shape my approach to photography back towards motion-first. As always, doing the work and putting in the reps are vastly more important than anything you will learn sitting comfortably on the couch, however, I must say I am a bit humbled by the sheer level of quality being displayed by some young youtube video creators these days. The quality of work being made by one person in a bedroom is now equal to what a team of specialists would be called in for not long ago. Time, of course, is still the required x-factor, but Ai will continue to put a dent into that part of the equation as well.
The video below by Gawx is both a fourteen-minute long ad for laptops and a beautiful video about art and creation. It is both infuriating and mesmerizing. It is both an example of what I should be focusing my own career towards and everything I hate about what I do. It’s complicated, impressive, and seemingly has broken my brain.
What I keep thinking about is my own career path.
When I began in this business, all the of content was made by a few old men with large support structures (filled with both full-time staff and freelance help) doing most of the work. These men owned buildings and got wildly rich. The barriers to entry were as tall as skyscrapers. I witnessed and participated in the very tail end of this era, working as an editor/assistant/webmaster/casting aide/etc before putting in my resignation and going out on my own with a new digital camera in hand. It was clear this model was dying and I would myself become a part of what killed it.
The new era which shaped me was filled with a larger number of younger men and women doing more of the work ourselves and keeping far less overhead. Nobody owned buildings, budgets were more modest but still robust, and freelancers were used anytime more help was needed on larger productions. Realistically, this era ended with Covid and we are now firmly in a new era, which people like myself are still a bit behind in understanding.
The current era is filled with millions of people, of all ages, all over the world motivated to make good work and fueled by a boom in affordable tools to do so. Cameras and lighting were once a barrier to entry but are now more of a bump in the road. Anything you want to make can be done with time and some youtube tutorials. It’s both amazing and terrifying, as the structures that were once in place to regulate prices and standards have crumbled like a sand castle at high tide. Making a living in this era will largely be tied to how large and dedicated your personal audience is and far less by how good you are at lighting or camera operating (this stuff helps but without an audience, you’re just one of thousands of people capable of doing it). To get an audience, you need a voice. A unique angle. Consistency. You need to be interesting and authentic. Say wild things, be provocative. Grab them by the pussy and be put in charge of the nation.
I’m still digesting all of this myself and figuring out where I stand in this landscape. At the end of the day, I know making things is what brings me joy and makes me happy, gives me purpose. I could do it for thousands of dollars or I could do it for free and be just as happy (shoutout to my agent). This is my edge but it’s no longer all you need to make it all work. You need a voice. You need to communicate clearly and gain an audience. You need a … blog?
-Clayton
