“Really, you’re an auto mechanic?”
For some strange reason the thought that I fix cars for a living takes people by surprise. The idea that an image they profess to love was created by someone who gets grease under his fingernails seems completely foreign to them. As if creating art and having one of the bluest of blue-collar jobs is somehow mutually exclusive.
I don’t get it. Is there some “standard” career path that artistic people are supposed to follow that I’m unaware of?
While a few people upon seeing my photographs have expressed surprise that my “real” job in not that of a professional photographer, (I can’t thank you enough for that one Cindy!) Most know that is just a dream for the time being, and that I do “something else” to pay the bills. So when clients or buyers find out what that “something else” is, a look of total bewilderment comes across their face. I can almost see their brain working as the try to reconcile the art before them and their image of a dirty, greasy, auto mechanic.
I’m not complaining nor am I even the slightest bit offended by their surprise, I just don’t understand it. Maybe if more of my photographs looked like the one below, would they be less surprised?
Maybe I’m not alone in this, what is your “real” job? And are people surprised that someone in your field can create something beautiful, whether it’s photography, painting, or some other art form? Id love to hear your experiences.
Or, if you’re one of those that are surprised at the images I make coming from a “grease monkey,” Why Does That Surprise You?
Jeff Sinon Photography 