Relocating to San Francisco with no plans, safe? (Oakland: moving to, roach)

[likealady]

Good grief, please don't bother with art school for photography. I know several photographers and commercial designers who are self taught and successful. That said, to "make it" you've got to be good. And FWIW, the creative community out here seems to only cater to tech creative (web designers, ux "design", interactive, mobile). I haven't found the Bay Area to be a nuturing environment for any artist who isn't tech-centric. Heck, I know an illustrator/letterer who struggled out here, moved back east and is now pretty successful. Seriously, the creative community here is strange.

[Chuck5000]

Photography is a dead-end career, unless you want to do weddings, and have the social connections to get you rolling with a lot of weddings.

Seriously. Do not do photography. I am repeating myself - it is a terrible field, overcrowded with people, and with not nearly enough demand. It's like being an actor. Yes, it is that bad.

If you really have esthetic talent, here is where that is actually in demand in today's economy: find a program for technical graphic design i.e. using a computer to design software products and user experiences. You'd be using appllications like InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Sketch, etc. Or, at least teach yourself this stuff.

You can start with Sketch, it's inexpensive, unlike the other applications. There are probably others I"m not aware of. Create a portfolio, then use that to get started re: trying to find work. Your plan could also be to move somewhere else first to build that portfolio before trying a highly-competitive place like SF, LA, NYC, Chicago, etc. (Seriously, don't get stuck on SF. It is not what you think it is.)

Going someplace that is too competitive before you are ready won't build you up, inspire you, or help you, it will grind you down before you get your sea legs. But you have to make a good, informed decision re: when you're ready.

Or try to get into such a program whereever it is - I'm not up on specifics of this. (Do NOT go to academy of art university, it's basically a scam. Crap faculty, crappy programs, crappy job placement -- preying on the naive.)

If you get on the ball re: tech design, you will have a shot at an actual living in the Bay Area, or in any major city in the US. Truly good designers who are professional and have good communications skills are in demand and can find decent paying work. Some even make good money, especially if they combine that with a strategic business approach to sell their services.

Your first step could be to just network with some people in your area now who do this, and learn the basics.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by kyriatraveler

Can you defend against this Forbes article? Forbes Welcome

Of course I can. Read the criteria they used to pick those cities.

To find America’s Most Creative cities, we started with America’s 50 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and Metropolitan Divisions (MSADs), home to half the U.S. population. Then we ranked these places based on four metrics: activity per capita on project-funding platforms Kickstarter and Indiegogo and music sites Bandcamp and ReverbNation. The goal was to capture organic creativity, since many artistic and musical types have "day jobs" outside of creative pursuits. Introduction - In Photos: America's Most Creative Cities - Forbes

There is no big creative community of fine artists in San Francisco and hasn't been for decades. There is no market for photographers anywhere in the US. Going to the Academy of Art and spending 20k or more a year for someone to teach you aperture settings on your Nikon is an absolutely awful idea. I am a photographer, I did technical (industrial) photography for a number of years as a part time job, there is no way I could have paid rent on what I got paid. A friend of mine was a food stylist, she arrange food on a plates and take pictures of it for advertising, the most she ever got paid for a shoot was $500 and that was for two grueling days waiting hours while cooks prepared the same food over and over again until the appearance was perfect.

If you want to have a career in the fine arts go somewhere where you can rent an apartment for $900 a month. If you want to live in SF learn a skill that employers want -probably something in a finance or tech sector field.

[Chuck5000]

This person above, 2sleepy, is giving you advice from someone with specific expertise in the exact field in which you are interested. And combine that with my advice previously re: what are fertile fields and potential paths, and you have some real ideas to work with.

A couple of times in my life I got amazing advice like this, and it helped me big time. I still think fondly of the people who gave me that advice, it was blunt, and took the form of "You don't know this. I do. You want to do X for the reasons you state, but what you are thinking is not complete. Here is the information to complete your knowledge - etc etc." ( I.e. it's incredibly hard, nobody will hire you, you're dreaming, etc, and here are some concrete other steps you can take that actually will work.)

It's a hard lesson to learn about the world - one that I learned on the late side, by the way - that *except* for a tiny number of true geniuses (do you think you're one? I mean a *TINY* number of geniuses) - you can't overcome a lack of market demand for a service you want to provide.

You need to go plant seeds where the ground is fertile. You can't just throw your seeds on any land that looks pretty and expect something to grow. OK, that's not a great metaphor. But you get my idea, I hope.

[FC76-81]

Few things here. Ask yourself if you think you could make "it" in San Francisco, why and what is preventing you from making "it" where you already are established? Or, if you aren't making "it" where you are already established, why do you think you will make "it" in a place you have no plan (place to live, work, earn money, etc.).

A big factor is how old you are when doing this. Are you young enough to "bounce" back if things go wrong/don't work out? Age is a huge factor to consider. I was in your same shoes once. I was young and barely smoking/drinking age and determined to go to the Philippines to join a band I knew about and had friends in. I stored all my stuff at my parents house and bought a ticket to Manila. But I had connections there already since I had been there before already. I went there with $3,000 to my name and lived there for about a year. I was poor just like most Filipinos there. Band life was very hard. I can't count how many times I was walking down the street with an electric fan in one hand and my rice cooker in the other, to my girlfriends house after the gigs were over. The point of this story is, I did it when I was plenty young and able to "bounce" back up when the chips fell. I couldn't and wouldn't dare do that now since I'm middle aged.

And the "safe" part. Well, if you're not into looking for trouble (drugs, crime, etc.) and conduct your living (work & play) in a decent area, you should be ok. Good luck.

[Mini-apple-less]

You have no idea how much easier life is in Ohio vs California.

[tikkasf]

kyriatraveler;
If after all the posts here, you still are thinking about relocating to SF, then I suggest you plan a week or so visit and form your own impressions first hand. You stated the air flights are really cheap, you could book a bunk at a youth hostel for a number of nights. BART train runs from SF airport to SF and you could purchase a weekly MUNI (bus) pass
https://www.bart.gov/stations
Muni & Cable Car 7-Day Passport | San Francisco CityPASS® Attraction


Who knows, maybe a combination of luck and befriending the right person/s, will result in 4 or 5 days into your visit, a decent job prospect/offer coming your way.....or after a few days you will tire of sharing a room in a hostel with one or more others and realize life for you in SF could be like that indefinitely.

[RosieSD]

To 2sleepy's excellent advice, I'd add that NO ONE should take out student loans for "art school" (especially a for profit ones like AAU or the Art Institute, which basically only care about their own pockets, not students) or if they want to go into a low paying/seat of your pants/high risk field like photography.

Keep your educational expenses as low as possible. Go to a local community college that offers photography classes. Use the savings for camera equipment (pro photographers need more than just a cheap camera; they need a lot of expensive equipment) and to build a portfolio.

Now, the original poster mentioned that he already had a degree in computer science. I'd focus my job search energies there, and save photography as a part-time hobby that the OP can develop over time with the income from his day job.

[SageCats]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

There is not a large 'artist' community in SF and hasn't been for quite a while, most artists and musicians have been priced out of SF and have relocated to other places including Oakland.

Yup. I know a couple that both are graffiti artists. I didn't even know that was a career. They live in Emeryville in the really bad part.

[CCbaxter]

Let me approach this from a different angle. I spent most of my career in Minneapolis working in commercial production. I believe you are hoping to work a fulfilling job during the day then sit around your loft at night drinking craft brews with the local version of the Algonquin Round Table discussing the newest exhibit at the MOMA or what Banksy has done lately. The fact is that most creative is like factory work. I assembled teams to do commercial shoots and the ability for them to execute what I want on time and without changes was my sole motivation in hiring them. They were technicians more than artists. True artists are rare, and the road is littered with talented people who just weren't good enough to make it. You can be judged on the most superficial things and denied opportunities for reasons totally out of your control.
That being said there are other cites out there, and you need to find them and be there on the rise. Like if you could have been in Austin TX 20 years ago. That space is now filled. Truly talented people create their own scene, not join existing ones. You need to find that place.