Module four, Sustainable Prospects, promises an exploration into what is the multi-disciplinary world of photography: stepping away from the philosophical and theoretical and towards the practical.

Very apt!

A particular current project (wait and see!) has required me to wear various hats: project management, accountancy, IT and website development, design.

This is true of many roles. But ordinarily we take on these different functions without any consciousness of doing so – it’s just a part of the job that we accept.

But what happens if we step back and carry out job analysis?

What about the different roles involved in a particular job? What about the different roles within a particular industry?

What, for example, are the alternatives to being a photographer?

Photographic assistant? Agent? Editor?

What other routes into the industry exist? What other roles provide a ‘foot in the door’?

Turning this question over …

What skills do I have that would enable me to fill alternative roles?

What other areas appeal to me? If not a photographer, then what?

A fairly easy stake to place in the ground – research is always an area that interests me and is an area in which I appear to be quite strong. But, let’s see where Sustainable Practices takes us and what it reveals …

What about keeping all tasks within house? Or alternatively outsourcing? What about the autonomy and self-sufficiency of being cross-trained? A scenario applicable to many operations, a website needs updating: being skilled in website development allows a business owner to update online content as and when the need arises. The alternative is to wait until a website developer can make the update, introducing lead time and additional costs.

Digital identity? How do I present myself to the world through my online presence?

Again, phrasing the same question another way, how do I cultivate my online identity?