Photo assistant
The photo assistant has both photographic and technical knowledge and helps the photographer with the preparation and follow-up of a photo production as well as with the photo shoot itself.
A photo assistant is mostly freelance and in this case is booked on a daily basis. A freelance assistant works for several photographers and thus gets an insight into the different ways of working.
In the past, the main tasks of a freelance photo assistant were loading and developing film material , assembling and dismantling camera and lighting equipment, measuring the light on set and preparing and following up the photo session . In the meantime, since digital photography has almost completely replaced analog photography, photo assistants take over the organization, development and backup of the recorded digital data, as well as the construction and configuration of the camera and computer on the photo set, instead of handling the film material. In the case of large photo productions or if the photographer has booked several photo assistants, these tasks are taken over by a specialized photo assistant, the digital operator. Digital operators only take care of processing and saving the recorded data.
In some cases, photo assistants are also employed on a permanent basis. Most of the time it is about jobs in open-plan studios or with busy photographers. Permanent photo assistants also support the photographer in all other tasks, such as calculation, customer acquisition, location scouting, customer care and all other production tasks, and thus gain deep insights into all processes at the photographer in question. Permanent photo assistants usually last one to three years. Typically, after this time, a photo assistant becomes self-employed as a photographer .
education
There is no training for the profession of photo assistant. Due to the physical demands, the job is usually only practiced as a learning phase before self-employment as a photographer and only for a few years. In order to be booked by photographers as a freelance photo assistant, a photographic training, several internships with different photographers or at least one permanent photo assistant are required.