Aspiring photographer Brooklyn Beckham is reported to be quitting his photography course just a few months after moving across the pond to study.
The 18 year old relocated to New York last year, where he has been part of a course at the prestigious Parsons School of Design since August. But U.K. media are now suggesting the eldest son of David and Victoria Beckham is considering dropping out in favor of an internship with a leading photographer.
He has apparently had a number of offers from various individuals, as well as industry bigwigs, who have promised to take the young talent under their wing. Beckham is said to be weighing up his options so as to determine where he’d be best placed.
For someone relatively new to the industry, Beckham already has a number of career achievements under his belt, including shooting a Burberry campaign, and releasing a photo book — the latter of which received heavy critique for its “terrible photos and even worse captions.”
Further education in creative subjects has been the topic of much discussion in recent years, with their relevancy questioned. In an industry dictated so heavily by the mantra “who you know, not what you know,” should Beckham ditch his course in favor of first-hand experience with working photographers?
Lead image by James Bold via Unsplash.
Part of me thinks staying in school would be beneficial to help keep him grounded in such a public life. But also, why not just enjoy the ride and take advantage of the opportunities life gives you to the fullest?
His ability to think creatively could be cultivated better in school but school will always be there for him. His popularity might only last so long so why not take the opportunity to learn under real working professionals. Photography like any creative art doesn't always need formal training. The only question is if he has enough technical skill to keep up with one of the top professionals he might study under.
I don't know what his personality is like but if he's humble, one on one with with the right mentor would be the best.
We've all benefitted from parents.
His parents worked for those opportunities.
Living standards today are said to be better than how many Monarchs lived not so long ago. The next generation should have things easier and better, that's what we call progress.
Giving the next generation a hard time because they take the opportunities the previous generation worked for, to give to them, is stupid.
Not all of us have the same opportunities, but that's part of how capitalism works, there are winners and losers. You and I may not have those opportunities so we can either make them happen through ingenuity and hard work or we essentially suck it up.
"And so should he"
Why? Because the rest of us need to?
because you'll feel better about yourself and learn more if you prove your work and do the path with your own feet rather than someone carrying you. When you put in the hours and the work and results are good, nothing can make you feel better!
you may take what's given to you, but most likely you won't know how to truly value it because it was easy and easy things don't tend to last in our memories for long.
Your points require a whole world of assumptions.
Usman Dawood I kind of disagree with that. Your definitely entitled to your own opinion and I don't judge you for what you're saying. I'm a millenial and I'll tell you that I envy those hard working people. I look up to them and they make me want to pursue dreams. Millenials have this horrible idea that all they have to do is want it and work hard for whatever they want and then when reality hits them that the world doesn't work like that they complain and protest. I agree some things should be easier but as time goes on each generation of young people gets lazier and lazier
Disagreeing is perfectly fine that's how people have discussions and learn.
Your comment was very Simon Sinek ish. His points are based on anecdotal evidence at best which is less than useless in many cases.
"The world is passing through troublous times. The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint."
Peter the Hermit A.D 1274.
Quote like this have been said throughout history, it's not anything new. The older generations always seem to claim some form of superiority over the younger. It's mostly nonsense.
You've re framed the context of my comment and the point behind it. My point was around how pretty much every generation has made massive generalizations about the younger generation and that's nonsense.
To be fair maybe I didn't explain it properly.
Define qualified for photography and art.
You assume an ideal world. I wish it were this and I hope it were that.
I don't think you've done a good job explaining your point on this one Bob. You discuss how you won't debate art because it's subjective and that was essentially the point of my question.
You then went on to talk about being qualified for art and photography as if it's not subjective.
Bob Brady your all over the place and just throw out your own personal experiences. His parents didn't get him anything. They are just supporting him in whatever he chooses to do. My parents would do the same as would anyone else's parents
You obviously haven't been following his story.
I would tend to say stay in school, but the bigger question I have is "how the heck did he get a major ad campaign if he is of mediocre talent?".
And social media following. Which is of course largely because of who has parents are.
I was thinking it, just didn't say it lol
Does anyone have the link of
the Burberry ad?...I can't believe a major company would settle for less than truly professional.
I mean, see what you just did there? You are seeking out their ad based on who photographed it. That sounds like smart marketing from a major company to me. You're getting hung up on the photography when that's not what this is about.
My bad Ryan...I guess their (Burberry's) ploy works/ed...I kinda want to see it, not because of the nepotism, but to see if the kid has any talent.
The Internet is changing everything. The mayor gallery in the world today is Instagram. That means that the public is for the first time in history, mostly random and not educated in photography or the subject in question. Companies want exposure, want clicks in his ads, comments, people talking about his product, his firm... Beckham is a celebrity, has millions of followers. Hire him means great exposure, is a good commercial move... is not anymore about photography
Google easily found... http://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/models/news/a16614/burberry-brookly...
And look above the comments and you find...
https://fstoppers.com/fashion/16-year-old-brooklyn-beckham-official-phot...
the same reason people watch the kardasihians..not for their intelligence or class :P
You're right. Like photography, most things and knowledge are easily available online for free, BUT, not everyone has the same learning ability. Some people enjoy the "classroom" style of education and some prefer to be self taught.
One of the more important things you get in school in a lot of cases is really amazing critique and an environment that really forces you to focus and find your creative voice. Learning from YT and other non formal outlets is awesome and really helps make everything more accessible but it's easy to do half assed when you don't have a grade/presentations/critiques/tuition riding on it. Both sides have really great arguments.
I agree, one of the things University taught me, was how to better evaluate what I was doing and creating, throughout the whole process. You know that at some point you're going to have to go into a tough critique and have everything you've been working on for months torn to shreds, forcing you to tighten up any holes in your creative process.
i'm shocked............he wants to quit because some mean instructor probably said his stuff sucked and he doesn't care who his parents are ? i bit of the real world kicked in for him. he should drop out and give his spot to a more dedicated photog and just intern with someone who can teach the basics and they can both benefit from the PR that it will bring them. his biggest problem is that people have always told him how great he was and he probably now realizes he is not after a few weeks into school.
You got all that from this article?! I must have missed that part.
But not fact. He could also be a kid who's taking advantage of opportunities not usually offered to students. He can always go back to school but the internship might not be open forever.
not a fact, no. since the basis of these schools is to break you down (like the military) and build you up it is my take on what happened. do i know for sure ? nope. only he does and i know he would not tell that story. my opinion is that he has put out lousy work (his book) and the only reason he has gotten gigs is because of his name. that's just the facts as i see them. people are free to disagree. i have seen his book first hand and it's terrible.
I almost can't tell if this post is satire or not.
parents with influence got him where is now. i couldnt effort tending that school, in fact, i have to save up visiting NY for a weekend. landing campaigns, dude,. my parents are,....
sadly doing good photos these days is only part of it
popularity is of course the other part and often gets you further ahead in our narcissistic society
some can combine the two others can not :)
many defended his photos from the campaign he did and others were like whatever sub par
the reality is he did little but press the button ?
everything was totally controlled and handled for him by a huge amount of people behind the scene top models lighting post directors everything
throw him in a room with regular people a camera 2 lights and a computer loaded with PS and LR and see what comes out of it compared to a good pro
and again many who blindly follow or idolize the elite will defend him ? its a bizarre thing for sure :)
sadly school does not make one a photographer either :) reckon he found he could not hack it or does not care to do actual work ? who knows :)
most of us would and do use every connection we have to get ahead and get work
he just happens to have some of the best in the world ?
and as said above marketing for a company is not about what is best its about what sells best !
Know what? While on one hand, I think it's kinda weird that the world works that way, the kid probably really likes photography, and he's lucky enough to have parents who can help supporting him in his passion. Is it a bit unfair? Yes. But at the same time, I don't know, it's not like he's really taking away from others either. So I just hope that he gets better and finds his niche.
Why (and I could not possibly emphasize this enough) does anyone care? If binge-watching has taught us anything, it's that stories are best-loved when told in the future when the tale can be enjoyed in its entirety.
School is hard..why work for it when everybody wants you anyway? Besides, in 4 years time the hype may be over. So clever thinking B.
I got my first job at a warehouse because my parents knew the manager. My sister got her job because someone who worked their brought her in. This happens everywhere. Just because his parents have money and help him upsets people here who feel like they work hard to get their work out there. You feel like you have to struggle. If you are really that upset then your looking at photography as a Job not as a career. You shouldn't really care about who gets what easier. Enjoy the hardship. Yeah sure sometimes it gets tougher than you can usually handle but think about this... If Brooklyn goes through hardships where his family can't help him he might have a hard time. If you make it as a professional and then confront difficulties... you know you'll be fine
Why bother...he can get by on social media clout and mediocre skills. At the end he will still be richer and more well known than anyone else commenting here including me :-)
The frustrating and most blatant thing. Who is this kid without his parents? ... No one. A student, a kid with a camera. Yes definitely should stya in school, take opportunities etc etc blah blah. But really would anyone be talking about him if his last name were Smith?
.
And yeah jealous. I wish I had more opportunities. Whatever though, he doesn't affect me, or you, or anyone. Just very annoying having entitlement shoved in your feed...
I thought this was a headline from an article on the Onion.
I studied photography for 3 years. Then I assisted. Guess where I learned more, and faster.
Don't stay in school fool.