When I Learned the Old Saying “Friends Are Friends, Business Is Business”

After finishing the beginner and advanced courses at IPJ – Instituto Português da Juventude, I was taking my first steps in photography, while, of course, keeping my advertising work at the time. I had a client… well, actually, they were some friends from college who had an ad agency called Dice.

They were clients, yes, but being friends made everything easier, and, as a result, I learned an important lesson (luckily, at the very beginning of my photography career).
I did my first job for them: photographing a beach bar. It was a simple job — I’d shoot, deliver the rolls, and they’d take care of the developing and everything else that came with it. Everything went smoothly.

Later on, when I was already studying at IPF – Instituto Português de Fotografia, I did one or two more jobs for them.
Then, at some point, they asked me for a quote to photograph some pieces. I didn’t have the gear, a studio, cyclorama space, or the knowledge to do a proper job, so I was honest and said I couldn’t take the project because I wouldn’t be able to do it in the best way possible.

Isabel, one of the partners and a good friend, called me about it and said she would take the photos herself with a (really crappy) camera she had. I, as a friend, said:

Oh Isabel, if it’s for that, I’ll help you — and it will definitely turn out better than if you do it with that thing.

So I did. I went to Dice and took the photos with what we had. It was a bit of a scramble, but it would always come out better than hers. Of course, there was no payment — I was just helping a friend.

Some time passed. At a college friends’ dinner, Joaquim, the other partner, said to me:

Carlota, I’m going to ask you for a photography job, but don’t mess it up like you did with those pieces.

He said it jokingly, but… wow, it hit me hard.
I had helped my friend because she was stuck and would have done it badly, so at least I would make it a bit better. A job I had refused and explained honestly that I didn’t have the conditions to do perfectly.
I replied:

Oh Joaquim, you’ve got to be kidding me!!!!! I spent a whole day helping you out, didn’t charge anything, did you a favour, and now you say this?!?!

I was really upset, but it taught me a lesson: I never “bail out” anyone again, and I don’t take jobs just to patch things up. Either I can do it properly, or I don’t do it.
In the end, nobody knows the conditions or how things were done — they just see the final product!
Nowadays, I still work with Dice, and we all get along really well. I don’t think Joaquim even realized how badly that hit me… or the good it actually did me 😉
Until next time,

Carlota Leitão