Today I was ripped to shreds on social media by the other photographer wives on base that I have literally never met.
These are people that share a passion with me and I’m ashamed to say so. People that are angry at me for “taking all the clients” don’t deserve to work with people at all. These “clients” are regular people just like you and me, they are not objects nor are they anyone’s for the “taking.” I’m appalled at the unprofessionalism of these wives. You took to facebook to rant about how I’m a “cheap photographer”, how it “pisses you off”, and how I’m “not a quality photographer”. That pity party alone should scare anyone away from your business. And what’s worse? All the other photographer wives came to share in your rant, agree with you, and share in their hatred of me. And the only reason I know about this is from a friend who’s friends with them on the site.
You want clients? Go out and get some. Nobody has limited you to the people on base except for yourself. I came here with nothing. I’ve made maybe two friends in the whole 6 months I’ve lived here. I didn’t take any photographs for 4 months because I was too intimidated by how many photographers were already making a steady living here. Then one day I decided I would give it a shot. It was a slow start, but I got a couple sessions booked. Then that turned into more. I priced low because I was new at this whole “family session” thing, not because I wasn’t a seasoned photographer. I decided to run the pricing for a couple months to build a network and get my name out there. All the other successful photo wives lean on and support each other here, they recommend each other to people, they help each other. Now that I actually have people wanting to book me, they have a huge problem with me. Again, I’ve never spoken to any of these wives.
This base is full of nothing but anger and hatred. It’s disgusting. All the wives are at each other’s throats all the time instead of helping and supporting one another, unless under special clauses like the photo wives seemed to have worked out. I wish I could say I’m excited to PCS, but truthfully it’s going to be like this at every base, and I’ll never escape the horrible, horrible people that are the military wives.
