So what do you do for a living?

When I meet people for the first time one of the first questions I am asked is what I do for a living. When I tell people I am a photographer they always ask what I photograph.

When I tell them I am primarily a people photographer and that I shoot for commercial and editorial clients (along with a mix of some headshot work) I generally get a blank stare. Unless they happen to work in a field that deals with photography in some vein or another they walk away having no idea exactly what it is that I do as a photographer.

Much like I have no idea when somebody tells me they are a lawyer and I ask them if they specialize in a certain area and they say "corporate law" and I smile politely and change the subject. Not because I have anything against lawyers who specialize in corporate law I just don't have any knowledge of what they do exactly.

On the surface I should have a job that is interesting to talk about but I have found for whatever reason (beyond my own lack of communication skills) that for me the "so what do you do for a living" conversation is generally short and not so sweet.

If you are one of those people that I have had these conversation with please accept my apologies and know that I am working on my "so what do you do for a living" speech.