The First No

(or Can Photographers Say No?)

There’s a strange guilt that comes with saying no to a client.

Photographers are taught to be grateful. Grateful for the opportunity, the exposure, the portfolio material. We learn to be polite. Accommodating. Understanding. We twist ourselves into pretzels because “you never know where it might lead.”

But lately, I’ve started saying no.

No to projects that drain me dry.

No to last-minute calls from people I’ve never met.

No to manipulative clients who expect the world for very little.

It’s strange, this discomfort. Because I spent a decade working inside editorial magazines, and another inside film. I understand deadlines, pressure, personalities. In those industries, everything had a structure: the budget, the brief, the credits, the rights. You might not love the job—but you knew the rules.

With photography, especially freelance photography, the boundaries blur. Suddenly, your time is up for negotiation. Your value becomes abstract.

There are months when I say yes to survive.

And there are days when I say no to live.

That’s the truth. Not glamorous. Not heroic. Just necessary.

Saying no still feels unnatural—like walking backward in a crowd.

But each no clears a little space. For rest. For better work. For clients who see you as more than just a pair of hands with a camera.

So yes, photographers can say no.

And sometimes, we must.