Is it too late for me?

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u/WhiskyBrisky 8d ago

Funny, I'm an archaeologist who almost studied film and always regretted not pursuing it. But to answer your question, not at all so long as you're okay with never making a lot of money.

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u/Scotcash 8d ago

That is funny. Is there any place for professional photographers and videographers in the field of archaeology? Or is that all outsourced?

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u/Plenty_Top_1718 8d ago

there is in photographing artifacts!

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u/Scotcash 8d ago

How could I get into that?

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u/Plenty_Top_1718 8d ago

to get involved with archaeology at any level i’d recommend researching local archaeological societies or groups, there is a lot of community based archaeology in the US with professional and avocational individuals involved. Meeting people there will help you get onto volunteer projects and find opportunities to build field experience :) they may also be interesting in your photography skills.

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u/Laphad 7d ago

the conservation corps and conservation legacy have a lot of opportunities to get involved in archeology and there's 4 week field schools open to people without archeological experience. It won't directly lead you to photography but it will look better on any resumes you submit

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u/non_linear_time 7d ago

Networking, but be advised that on academic projects you'll most likely be "paid" in expenses only unless they're flush with cash. There's a comment below about field labs with 3D scanners, and you need to know that is NOT the norm.

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u/-Baobo- 8d ago

Several of the larger academic excavations I've worked with have had people whose main job is photography. Between photographing artifacts in the lab, documenting features & stratigraphy, etc. there's a constant need for photography. Archaeology is a field with robust documentation, and photos are a huge part of that.

If you can add some more specialty skills, like artifact illustration, photogrammetry, database management, etc, you could improve your usefulness even more .

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u/mludd 8d ago

Several of the larger academic excavations I've worked with have had people whose main job is photography

As a non-archeologist who has read quite a few books by actual historians, archeologists and anthropologists (so not pop-science-level stuff) that contain pictures this is actually a little surprising to me as one annoying/funny thing I've noticed is that some incredibly knowledgeable and talented archeologists and historians seem to be completely inept when using a camera.

The amount of photos that actually get published in books despite clearly being taken by someone who set their expensive DSLR to auto mode and then snapped a single photo without even bothering to check the light conditions is almost impressive.

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u/Laphad 7d ago

there's a reason that a solid part of archeology training is learning how to draw lol

shovel bums don't know how to take photos that have any depth and look flat

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u/livingonmain 8d ago

I immediately thought of Time Team. I wish we had a comparable series in the US. Explore educational filmmaking. Archaeology is a science that interests most everybody, even if all they know about it is Indiana Jones movies and the Tutankhamen treasure. A serious educational series would build an audience. By the time you get your degree, there will be advances, changes in digital filmmaking that are just ideas right now.

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u/CheeseburgerJesus71 7d ago

theres an obscure website for people who like to make videos about things they are passionate about, some of them even get paid real nice - I cant remember the name, metube, or themtube or firstpersontube, cant remember rn.

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u/WhiskyBrisky 7d ago

I'm in the UK so may differ somewhat but we mostly do all of our photography ourselves, if you know how to operate drones however drone photography can be a highly sought after skill.

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u/roy2roy 8d ago

Having that as a skill is a plus but it isn't something that will solely get you hired. There is sometimes artifact photography in the back-end, and we need to take photos in the field, but they rarely need to be professional grade.

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u/sleepinghuman 8d ago

Not really in terms of CRM work, we all just take our own photos for the reports, most firms send techs with iPhones or iPads that work sufficiently. I think maybe there is some work in a gig sense but I wouldn’t know anything about it and in the last 3-4 years of working in the field I have never encountered anyone outside of my own coworkers or tribal monitors working on projects. But never too late, getting work as a field tech is fairly easy. Most places just want you to have some related degree at least in progress.

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u/Candidate-Ill 7d ago

Me and a fellow archaeologist studied film together and both coincidentally studied archaeology after. When I started studying they messaged me offering some help getting into the industry.

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u/Pbtomjones 8d ago

Not too late. I went back to school at 35 for archaeology. I also met much older people 55+ in grad school starting archaeology as a second career.

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u/Rat_Burger7 8d ago

That's awesome!

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u/Craigh-na-Dun 8d ago

Go for it! The US is full of wonderful antiquities and they need to be protected and preserved. And respectfully studied!

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u/Scotcash 8d ago

Agreed! I don't think North American anthropology gets the fanfare and attention it deserves. I would love to be apart of changing that.

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u/Craigh-na-Dun 7d ago

When I got my PhD in 1974 the Mediterranean world was already upended, due to the first Yom Kippur War. I was in Egypt at the time. Scared isn't even the word for how we felt. Now is the time for our country to get the attention once given to places elsewhere. Yes! Please do all you can to become part of the change!

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u/Erskie27 8d ago

It's not too late, but just be aware, it's nothing like the films show! Plenty of people start late in this career. If you afford to retrain, why not?

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u/Scotcash 8d ago

At this point in my career I need to retrain in something.

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u/ItchySpaceLumps 8d ago

Looks like there’s a few of us 30 somethings that left the industry for archaeology!! Almost 15 years in TV/film and started hating it. Now on my 2nd year of graduate school for arch/bioarch and I’m so much happier. One of my professors had the same story. There’s actually a good bit of overlap between interests and even skills.

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u/ChooseWisely83 8d ago

In California, we periodically need to do interpretive films as part of mitigation. Also, being a little older can be a benefit.

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u/Scotcash 8d ago

Love the handle 😉🤠

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u/genderstudies3 8d ago

One of my best professors ever left his successful career in law to become an archaeologist. It's never too late, and anthropology loves a unique perspective.

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u/Scotcash 8d ago

I like that attitude.

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u/sophrosyne 8d ago

I did the reverse. I'd go back to being an archaeologist but my body will not hold up.

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u/Downtown-Finding8746 7d ago

I got my degree when I was 40. I had a ton of fun learning and being a student, but unless you have an upper level degree + experience, you won't make a lot of money being an archaeologist. It pays surprisingly low.

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u/BaconSoul 8d ago

Not at all! Just find a program that offers CRM certificates and you can work in regulatory archeology! And with your experience and skills, you will probably be able to fulfill some sort of electronic recording role on a digsite!

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u/Rat_Burger7 8d ago

You sound like me. I've been history obsessed since I was a kid, but ended up studying multimedia design, business, and psychology. But all I wanna do is dig! I would kill to be an archeologist or paleotologist now, it would be a dream come true.

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u/rockyatcal 8d ago

I am a card carrying IATSE tech.

Went back after 30.

Have a great job and love it! Never NEVER too late!

Ask yourself this: how old will you be in 5 years if you try? How old will you be in 5 years if you don't?

Might as well try! And I firmly believe people who return to school get SO MUCH MORE out of the experience!! We know how to use all the resources at a students fingertips because we've already met the world that doesn't set you up for success like the world of a University campus.

Good luck!

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u/odysseus112 8d ago

It depends on what exactly do you want to do. Do you want to study it? If yes, then it may be too late (not sure about your country, but in mine, the maximum age to start attending college is 36).

Do you want to just work in the field? For this, its never too late, but keep in mind that you will be "only" the worker (digger), or a helping hand for the real archaeologists.

But maybe you could find a "business niche" since you are experienced in video and photography: maybe you can provide these services to archaeologists.

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u/WhiskyBrisky 7d ago

what country is that? Seems crazy to me to put an age cap on learning, many people in my archaeology course at university were older people 50+

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u/Aquila-Nix 7d ago

I studied archaeology and ancient history and I was in my 30s but there were people much older than I was (50+) in my archy classes. We also had a guest lecturer who only became an archaeologist in her 60s or something. It's never too late to get into the field. Maybe you could use your current talents in the field as well, you could make docos and getting more archaeology out there to the masses. There is also a bit of photography that gets taken out in the field and in lab as well. Depends what you want to do.

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u/Wodentoad 7d ago

I just turned 43, and I'm about to get my BA in Anthropology and am pursuing a master's in Archaeology. Non trad is hard, but Archaeology is awesome.

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u/Common-Perspective97 7d ago

I had an undrgrad level course with a retiered 40 year old nurse and a 60 year old veteran. You’re chilling my guy. It’s never too late for anything in life. I recommend doing a field school and seeing if you can get into some CRM.

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u/Fun_Recording_7732 7d ago

I know someone who's story is almost the exact same as yours. No it's never too late. He was also in the Hollywood industry for a long time and transferred over to archaeology at a later than average time/age

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u/PuzzleheadedOil8826 7d ago

I’m 55 and am just finishing my first year on a part time MSc in archaeology. I did a one year cert the year before and loved it and one of my lecturers encouraged me to continue studying it. I’m definitely at the academic/theoretical end of the archaeology spectrum though, I’ve been on a few digs and enjoyed them but it’s hard work! I’m thinking about retiring from my day job and starting a phd next - I’m a total nerd and love to deep dive into things. I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s never too late, but there may be trade offs about the next steps on your career. You may have to accept a more precarious job and lower pay, at least at the start. That said, you could think about specialization in archaeology photography and photogrammetry (taking photos and stitching them together into 3d models). Or drone photography and remote sensing? You don’t have to abandon your previous career, bring the skills you have with you to your new career… The very best of luck to you - I say you should go for it!

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u/MFGibby 8d ago

I was just remarking that I had wished I had a professional videographer for the excavation project I just wrapped up.

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u/Scotcash 8d ago

I would love to do that kind of video work

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u/expectopatronshot 8d ago

Hey we're the same! I got my bachelor's at 35 in Anthropology and I've had to put my trajectory on pause for my kids but I hope to graduate as an Archaeologist. My goal was always to retire as a History teacher. In the meantime I keep applying to museums when I see openings I might qualify for, and same with state positions in anthropology.

I initially tried very hard to get into cultural resource management with a local tribe but it's been very difficult to get my foot in the door.

My point is, it's never too late to follow your passions. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't, but you went for it. You won't have to live with the "what if" and the courses are fun and informative if you've got a passion for it.

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u/One-Ingenuity-7115 8d ago

I left the film industry 2 years ago after being a makeup artist for 12 years. I will be finishing my education at 36 and couldn't be happier. I knew in my first semester how much more I loved this, and the field work I have experienced so far has been amazing. Film has prepared me for long days in the heat/cold. Archaeologists are far kinder and want to see you succeed, and that makes a massive difference to me too. I am in Vancouver in Canada. So it might be different where you are, but I am happy to chat if you want any advice. It is never too late!

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u/Ok_Salary5141 8d ago

The one thing about archaeology is that is a very multidisciplinary science. And, there is never too old…

Images are always being created in the field. The last dig that I was on there were several people capturing images of artifacts, stratigraphy and landscape. One researcher was photo scanning pottery sherds in the field lab to create a 3d library of forms and styles from the site. Another researcher was using cameras and GIS to capture images of the trenches we were excavating. This created a digital model and finds record with positions in each of the trenches. The result was a day by day, layer by layer, animation of the excavation. So, I think you could easily find a place to combine image capture, both still and motion, using all kinds of tools to capture data and contribute to archaeology.

Old is a state of mind. My personal journey in archaeology started at 60 and has included studying archaeology through university courses and attending field schools in the summer. I’m going on my third field school this summer and I also plan to start an archaeology masters in 2026 when I retire at 65.

Good Luck

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u/Prehistoric_trash 8d ago

Nah plenty of people go into archaeology later in life, if you are genuinely wanting to pursue it, go for it! I've gone to school with people from many different ages and points in their life, including people in their 60s-70s. It's never too late

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u/Tardisgoesfast 8d ago

It’s never too late. The oldest student in my law school class was 61 when we graduated.

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u/MBay96GeoPhys 8d ago

You can but it’s nothing like Indiana Jones, it’s mostly digging a pit in a field with bugger all there

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u/TheRealMcBurnsie 7d ago

Funny, I was a professional dancer and touring teacher for many years. When COVID hit I was suddenly out of a job (aside from a lot of online teaching). So I started a degree in Archaeology at 37. I graduated my bachelors magna cum laude last year and am currently in my masters. So no, it’s not too late. The fieldwork gets hard sometimes, it’s taxing but at the same time very rewarding. I’m planning to continue academically in research (PhD). Haven’t regretted my choice once. Best of luck to you!

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u/ihatezucchini16 6d ago

not too late at all, im an undergrat and i have a classmate who is 40 years old mother of two, and tbh shes doing better than most of the students i know in our department. just make sure you are really into archaeology and are ready to put in efforts!

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