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Urban Outfitters offers a year of full-time internship for photographers, pays $0

by 14 Comments

Urban Outfitters offered undergraduate students internships in photographic studio production and styling. The lucky ones will get a full-time position in the London office of the company for a whole year. Sounds too god to be true? It is.

The internship is unpaid for the entire time of its lasting. True, it’s not forbidden the law, but the problem is that not many students can actually afford this. Urban Outfitters would cover travel costs, though, but there’s a catch. Only those living in central London would get the paid costs. Those traveling from the suburbs would have to cover their expenses themselves.

All this raises an issue – are unpaid internship actually reserved only for the rich kids?

Educational charity Sutton Trust warns that this trend of unpaid internships disables social mobility. It puts in the favorable position those who have independent means, wealthy parents or access to free accommodation. And it sounds reasonable. If you have the time to serve as an intern full-time and you’re still financially supported, you need to have a good monetary background.

Urban Outfitters defended their approach by stating the following: “Unpaid internships are legal under UK law, as long as the intern is a student at an accredited college or university and will be receiving academic credit for the internship.” Sounds fair in theory, but it’s not really fair in real life. This means that they’ll get a decent job done, and pay nothing for it. It sounds more like exploitation than the internship.

According to the Guardian, the unpaid internships are a growing trend. I’ve also noticed it where I live, as unpaid positions are often offered to students or those looking for their first job. And here, the companies act like they’re doing you a favor. You get to work for free, full-time (even overtime), and get “references” and “exposure.”

All in all, I believe that a company whose reported earnings are expressed in billions should be able to afford a paid internship for the students. This would be the only way to give an equal chance to all the talented young photographers out there, no matter their family and economic background.

What do you think? Should big companies start paying for the internships? Or the students should be grateful for the opportunity and rely on the exposure they’ll get?

[via The Guardian]

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  • I hope students realize if the company doesn’t value you enough to even try to compensate you they aren’t going to value you enough to put forth any sort of effort when it comes to those references and that exposure.

  • To be a ‘true’ photographer, you can’t train, create or anything else… you either are or are not…. and to get that kinda talent for free!!! F**K off!

    • Big companies should PAY for that talent ALWAYS!

    • Just like with enough practice and training, you can go from being left-handed to right. It’s not an overnight journey but it can be done.

  • Grant Nelson

    But what is the experience worth in real dollars?

  • Stereo Reverb

    I like the idea! It’ll get you enough exposure that you can pay the rent and buy groceries in Exposure Dollars

  • Its funny how different industries have different interpretations of internships. For example – I was an engineering student – nobody EVER took an unpaid internship – it just wasn’t a thing. If you did an internship – they hired you for a real job and paid you for it. However, my wife was a medical student – in most medical fields unpaid internships are the norm – its an expected part of putting in your dues. When it comes to the arts – it seems most of these “internships” are just a slimy way of getting free student labour. Its not like students are expensive – hire them for a real job and pay them!

  • Josh M

    Sounds like an internship. Some are paid, some aren’t. I don’t understand the point of this post.

    Industries that pay interns are using it as a recruiting tool for future employees. I doubt they’re looking to hire staff photographers given the largely freelance nature of the industry. It’s a resume builder for when you go out into the real world competing for customers.

  • Sounds about right. The perfect training for those that wish to work in an industry where, in the eyes of the majority of people, the most appropriate form of reimbursement is ‘exposure’ and the greatest compliment you can pay them is image theft.

  • The technical details of photography can be learned really quickly. When you pay a “pro” you are paying for creativity and an eye for capturing stories in their photos. That is not something easily learned if at all. Not paying for this creativity of someone with an eye for photography is wrong. Remember this quote “If you’re good at something, never do it for free”- Joker

  • Unpaid internships are one or two days a week for college credit. There should be a supervisor at school they meet with or coordinate with the company. It should include actual learning experiences and not be a free gofer. That is how internships always worked. You do that instead of one of your courses and you get course credit. But it is structured and monitored by the school. There is a limit to hours at the company and does not include lots of getting coffee.

  • pincherio

    Nursing interns in the Philippines have to pay the hospitals so they can intern there due to the glut of nursing graduates. I’m not saying it’s right, just that it happens.

  • Kay O. Sweaver

    If the company is just training you than sure, pay nothing. On the other hand, if the student is providing a service that brings benefit to the company that would normally be compensated, pay up.

  • It’s not just for photographers, they’re looking for interns in all areas of their business. This isn’t a nonprofit organization where you might understand looking for free labor.

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