Maya Sharp

Maya sharp is a freelance photographer and assistant who is based in Leeds. Recently Maya took the time to attend our university providing insight into the freelance industry and how helpful working as an assisting photographer is in order to make it as a freelance photographer.

Maya sharp graduated from university in 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic this meant Maya had quite the struggle finding work through this particular time. Maya stated the importance of reaching out to photographers in order to create these opportunities for herself, due to Covid this was quite a slow process initially, but eventually led to a few informal interviews with photographers. From these interviews Maya received around four unpaid experienced shoots in order to learn the fundamentals of the photographic industry.

The assisting was very beneficial to Maya and her journey to becoming freelance as the jobs in which she assisted on allowed her to generate work which could be displayed on her website, to bring customers for paid commissions. Maya also discussed the perks of assisting roles, as these jobs gave her access to cool locations, allowed her to learn and gain support from photographers, and also helped her start a network with creative people.

This talk was very interesting and helpful as I would like to go down the same route, Maya enforced the importance of being patient whilst continuing to work hard. She also discussed that to be a good assistant you must pay attention, take initiative, notice detail, and to try and know what the photographer needs before they know what they need. These are all things which should be thought about when getting into assisting roles, as these first impressions with current photographers are crucial.