Working With What Is Given: Balancing the Give and Take of Two Careers
I’m not doing less photojournalism. What has changed is how I balance the responsibilities of two very different photography careers: my full-time role as a commercial photographer and my work as a photojournalist covering cultural events, festivals, and public life in London.
Many people assume that seeing fewer protests or fewer street-level assignments on my feed means a lack of commitment. That isn’t true. Instead, I am navigating the delicate give and take of two demanding careers, making intentional choices about where my time, energy, and expertise are invested.
For years, my approach was simple: be everywhere, shoot everything, and hope that visibility translated to relevance. Volume often felt like the answer. But the reality is different. Volume without impact is noise. Being busy is not the same as being effective.
Now, I prioritise impact over presence. I focus on moments and events where my work reaches the right audience and creates meaningful documentation. Photographing a protest that no one sees is not wasted effort, but it is less strategic than documenting a major cultural event like Glastonbury Festival, Crufts, or the Chelsea Flower Show, where the work contributes to public record and reaches a wider audience.
Treating Time as Currency Across Two Careers
Time is the most valuable resource for anyone managing two photography careers, and for me, it is finite. My full-time role dictates my general availability, holiday allowance, and energy levels, while my photojournalism work demands flexibility and rapid response.
I’ve learned to treat time like currency. Every shoot, every assignment, and every event comes with a cost in energy, focus, and opportunity. Spending that currency unwisely—on events that are logistically impossible or do not provide meaningful exposure—is not sustainable.
Protests, for example, have been a core part of my work. They remain important, but the return on investment for attending every single one is limited. Only so many events happen when I am available, and trying to attend all of them is physically and mentally impossible.
The give and take is constant. My time is limited, but when invested strategically, it allows both my full-time career and my photojournalism work to flourish. Larger cultural and event-based photography in London now takes priority because it maximises reach, impact, and long-term relevance.
Why Cultural Events Are as Important as Traditional News
Part of balancing two careers involves redefining what counts as newsworthy. Cultural events, festivals, and conferences are vital parts of the city’s story, yet they are often overlooked in traditional journalism.
Crufts. The Chelsea Flower Show. Glastonbury Festival. Political conferences. Tech conferences. London Comic Con. These events shape society, communities, and subcultures. Documenting them is not "lighter" work—it is essential reportage.
Culture is news. Tech conferences define where society is heading, shaping tools, labour, and automation. London Comic Con documents communities, identity expression, and subculture formation. Festivals reflect economics, youth culture, climate pressures, and mass movement. Even weather photography, approached thoughtfully, can communicate collective reality more effectively than street protests alone. Environment, infrastructure, and lived experience frequently outweigh rhetoric.
By focusing on local events, summer programming, festivals, major concerts, and lifestyle and cultural gatherings, I capture the city in its entirety—not just the arguments on the street, but how people gather, celebrate, and engage with life.
Leveraging a Full-Time Photography Career to Enhance Flexibility
Managing two photography careers is not a compromise—it is an advantage. My full-time role as a food and product photographer requires precision, technical consistency, and speed. I handle company press work and headshots, which develops discipline and timing.
Those skills directly enhance my photojournalism. Product photography sharpens my ability to frame clearly and maintain consistency in unpredictable environments, such as tech conferences or large cultural events. Press work improves my anticipation of moments and understanding of how images are consumed by audiences.
Balancing these two worlds has made me more versatile. I am not a distracted photojournalist; I am a technically diverse photographer who can pivot seamlessly between corporate and cultural environments, delivering work that is professional, impactful, and adaptable.
Spread Thin or Covering Ground?
From the outside, managing two photography careers may appear as being spread thin. Multiple subjects, multiple environments, multiple responsibilities—it can look chaotic.
But in reality, being spread thin often means covering more ground. It builds resilience, flexibility, and versatility. It prevents reliance on a single lane, which may close unexpectedly. I work with what I have, within the time available, balancing commitments strategically to maintain both professional careers.
This is not an excuse. It is not a defence. It is a deliberate strategy for sustainability, impact, and long-term relevance. Balancing two photography careers is not a limitation—it is a lens through which adaptability and technical skill are fully expressed.
Need impactful visual storytelling? Whether you need me to cover a major cultural event through Documentary work, or require professional corporate imagery that draws on years of technical experience for your Portrait needs, my dual-career background ensures precision and impact.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is it possible to have a full-time job and still be a professional photographer? A: Yes. Balancing two careers requires strict time management and strategic choices, but a full-time role often provides the financial stability needed to pursue meaningful, impact-driven projects without desperation.
Q: Why do you focus less on protests now? A: It is about impact versus volume. While protests are important, documenting major cultural events like Glastonbury or tech conferences contributes to the public record in a way that often reaches a wider, more engaged audience.
Q: How does product photography help with photojournalism? A: Product photography demands extreme precision, lighting knowledge, and discipline. These skills translate directly to capturing clean, well-composed images in chaotic live environments like festivals or news events.
Q: Does "covering ground" mean the quality of work suffers? A: No. It means you are versatile. Being able to shoot food, products, corporate headshots, and breaking news makes a photographer more adaptable and technically proficient than someone who only shoots one genre.
Q: What events define "culture" in your photography? A: Culture is anything that brings people together and shapes society. This ranges from the Chelsea Flower Show and Crufts to Comic Con, political summits, and music festivals. These events tell the story of who we are just as much as political news does.