a funnytimeofyear

We had a picnic in this beautiful delapidated barn on Saturday afternoon in the sun, on an RAF runway strip. Good times.



I had a rather awful morning which had me sitting on the phone for hours to various people, as well as whining to my mother and sitting around in the bank waiting anxiously. So when I remembered that there was lots happening this weekend in Brighton, it perked me up to know that Evs would be joining me. To celebrate the clocks going back there are some interesting events going on throughout the night, so if you're in Brighton check it out: White Night. These are right up my street:

• Do Something Different in Libraries
  Join us for free films about love, starting with the wonderful ‘Amelie’ (C15) at 7.30pm, then on through the night; we’ll even throw in free popcorn! In the main library we will be showcasing local bands, loud, raucous, talented and in your library.


• Home Sweet Home
  Home Sweet Home Estates proudly present its newest development, inviting you to descend into The Basement and become a resident of Brighton’s smallest suburb, a cardboard community of neat streets and magnolia houses just waiting for you to turn them into homes. On arrival, residents select a flat packed property and plot with which they are free to do as they please. The development boasts a number of services to help settle you in, a notice board, a postal service and even a local radio station. Meet your neighbours, explore the city, and get to know the world around you. Whilst building your dream home you will be entertained by guest DJs and can also enjoy delicious tapas or a cheeky cocktail or two!


• Experimental Night-time Fixations
  Phoenix will offer an array of experimental art, including performances, music and installation from Beatabet Collective, The Institute of Unnecessary Research, The Spirit of Gravity, other special guests and anything else that fixates them!


• The Royal Pavilion
  Enjoy the glamour of the Regency era as Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra and the New Sussex Singers perform in concert in the beautiful Music Room. With the state rooms lit in their full glory and the sounds of the harp playing, the late night atmosphere will be magical. Plus, your chance to get a sneak preview of the project that will represent Brighton & Hove at Liverpool’s Portrait of a Nation event in December. The showcase combines free-running, street-dance and film created by young people in collaboration with Urban Playground, Streetfunk and Junk TV.


• Special Boom Boom Saloon at The Latest Music Bar
  The new downstairs late night liquor lounge with your hosts, DJ Lorngerie and DJ Breadbelly spinning the hippest tunes from the worlds of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Rhythm ‘n’ Blues, Country Funk, Soul, Swing and way beyond! Plus a special Boom Boom jazz lounge upstairs in the Music Cafe with a few surprises.

The selling point for most of these things is that not only are most of them free, but they're on 'til 7am. Which is great for me, considering what a night owl I am. Yippy! Unfortunately the sewer tour was sold out! Now the only problem is that it's Tuesday and these interesting and fun things aren't happening until Saturday. D'oh!

Help!

I don't know if anyone will actually respond to this, but here goes..

I just saw on the AOP website that Nadav Kander is looking for a PA/Studio Manager. I want to apply for the job:

PA/Studio Manager
Kentish Town, London
TBC
Photographer, Nadav Kander, is seeking a PA/Studio Manager to run his busy studio. Applicants must be highly motivated and able to work effectively under pressure in a very diverse role. Duties include the day-to-day running of the studio, organising busy schedules to tight deadlines, estimating and billing jobs, guiding and overseeing shoot production, researching projects and keeping systems up to date. Excellent organisation, communication & admin skills are required. Preferably Mac users, proficient in MS Office, knowledge of FileMaker and Photoshop is a bonus. Experience in advertising, the arts and/or production is desirable. The position is not open to Photographer’s Assistants.

I have, I think, all of the qualifications that are needed and I am a big fan of his work. I just suck at writing covering letters because I start, stop, start, stop, then completely over-analyse every single sentence until I have just made an entire mess of it all. So I was wondering if there were any ace covering letter/job applicant gurus out there that could throw me a few points. So far I've come up with this, which was written in a bit of a rush this afternoon and is by no way finished/scrutinised enough:

I would like to be considered for the PA/Studio Manager post currently advertised on the AOP jobs website. I was delighted to see the position relating to Nadav Kander’s work as I have been a keen admirer of his photographs from the beginning of my initial interest in photography, through to studying for my photography degree, and now whilst working in the photographic and art industry.

After researching more about the themes and motivations between Nadav’s work, it became apparent that we share a mutual drive in achieving the images that we create - namely the evident detachment between subject and photographer, of which I can clearly identify with throughout Nadav’s body of photographic work. I feel that it is important to be able to relate and understand another artist’s work in order to build and maintain a good working relationship. I feel that my awareness and comprehension of the message that Nadav is delivering will allow me to deliver high quality work that is saturated with investment, passion and drive.

Whilst I have been heavily involved in working as a freelance photographer, I have also taken on various positions within the arts industry in order to broaden my knowledge and work experience. My position as the assistant manager of a busy photographic and design company produced the opportunity to exercise my excellent organisational skills and enabled me to perform well under pressure in a heavily deadline-orientated environment. During this role I was also in charge of managing the photographic studio which entailed maintenance, shooting, digital editing, diary management, communication and liaison as well as administrative tasks. My role as a PA and assistant to professional photographer and record company owner Doug Craib has enabled me to gain a wealth of experience in management. Throughout this role I was responsible for overseeing day-to-day diary management, sourcing props and styling, organising and booking studios/locations, ad-hoc duties, as well as technical assistance and admin responsibilities. This position has been important in teaching me an abundance of responsibilities and duties that I believe will be invaluable in my role as PA/Studio Manager. Working as a freelance photographer as well as a digital retoucher has given me a substantial amount of experience and skill in working with Photoshop, with experience in: design; image quality control; RAW editing; colour calibration; colour matching; colour profiles (RGB CMYK etc); sizing; DPI output; digital printing (I previously worked as a photographic printer) and various degrees of retouching (cosmetics etc). My representation by cutting-edge image licensing company Arcangel Images (www.arcangel-images.com) has given me experience in understanding and implementing my knowledge in digital asset management (keywording, categorising etc.) My knowledge in computing and digital media also extends to website maintenance and knowledge (including HTML, CSS, PHP coding), as well as various content management systems and database handling. My communication skills are also very good (both written and verbal), and I have been given plenty of opportunity to practise these in my previous job positions.

I know it's not finished, for definite. I am just a bit mentally fried from bashing that much out, so any little hints & tips would be appreciated. Maybe any experiences you other photographers have had when applying for jobs etc. Please don't be shy, help!