#NOFREEWORK presents Club Connections. When co-working space, Work.Life, and photojournalist Lihee Avidan combine, beautiful things happen.
As part of our #NOFREEWORK campaign, we are encouraging companies to put their money where their mouth is and work with Freelancer Club members on a variety of creative projects.
Work.Life has been an avid supporter of the #NOFREEWORK campaign from day one and they chose Lihee Avidan to shoot an event for her stunning documentary work and attention to detail. The brief was to capture the personalities, brands, and atmosphere at our ClubHouse event and she did not disappoint.
Why did you get into photography?
LA: “Not to forget. Seriously. It was to keep memories. Later on, it was to change the world through photography - to tell stories that no one else tells that are important. That’s why I became a photojournalist.”
What made you want to be a freelancer?
LA: It’s a lot about character. If you want to work for an organisation or if you want to work for yourself. I enjoy working for myself and being my own boss but it’s a 24/ 7 thing. I’ve been doing it for nearly 10 years.
David, what drew you to Lihee’s work?
DK: I loved how she captured her subjects in her documentary work. We were co-hosting an event which is obviously a very different surrounding to a lot of her work, but the way she drew out the expressions of her subjects really impressed me. We wanted to capture the people at the event, the space and the brands who had taken the time to come down and support what we're doing. Lihee seemed to have the ability to adapt to a layered brief and shoot everything with precision.
What do you enjoy most about being a photographer?
I enjoy most of it as it allows me access to people's lives. I can enter people's homes from different countries and different cultures to experience their lives. Documentary photography lets me do that. That’s what I love about it most of all. It gives me access. The last project was about prostitutes. How else could I get that type access without my camera!
Have you ever been asked to work for free?
Yes [I’ve been asked] - I don’t do work for free. I volunteer.
Why don’t you take unpaid work?
I don’t work for free because it’s taking the piss. I need to earn a living. A lot of times GNOs say can you do it for free? I choose who I volunteer for and that’s it. If you think someone is good and you like their work, pay them so that they can do it.
Why did you choose to back the #NOFREEWORK campaign?
A lot of our members at Work.Life are freelancers and we feel really strongly about supporting them not only with the space and community we provide but also with any education we can offer. We think it’s incredibly important that they understand the value of the services they provide and how to make sure they get paid for them.
For us, freelancing is the future of work and where we see a growing number of our members coming from. We work with freelancers ourselves and have recently launched our revolutionary Flex Membership offering freelancers pay-as-you-go coworking option. Anything that supports the freelance community has our vote.
Lihee Avidan is an award winning photojournalist, documentary film-maker and producer, working with leading news and media brands, including the Financial Times Magazine, the Guardian, the Sunday Times Magazine, Die Zeit, BBC, and Channel 4 TV, as well as with Global NGO’s including Amnesty International. Producing compelling original stories on political, social and environmental issues, her work has been published, exhibited and broadcast around the world. MA in Photojournalism & Documentary Photography, London College of Communications. See more of her work HERE.
Work.Life has spaces in Camden, London Fields, and Bermondsey. Their ambition to nurture to communities across London has seen them grow into a highly respected brand within the creative sector. Check out their coworking spaces here: Work.life
