Earlier quoted context omitted.
This analogy makes no sense. I often encountered situations where clients wanted to keep photos 'private'. I couldn't use them in my portfolio. To deal with that I took my camera and lenses (analogous to a computer) and made some equivalents that allowed me to demonstrate my skill in a similar way (analogous to writing some code in a personal project). Suggesting you should sketch something to show your photo making…
>made some equivalents that allowed me to demonstrate my skill in a similar way (analogous to writing some code in a personal project). Except that doesn't work in programming. I can't take the core bits and re-release them in my own projects. In fact that's literally what I'm prohibited from doing. While in photography you can make the same photo with different people, in programming you absolutely cannot simply rew…
OK. Imagine this...
You photograph an event at an exclusive venue that you won't get access to again, with a setup you can't replicate (ever), with famous guests you'll never see again and a world famous VIP as the main subject.
Oh and to boot, the client wants total confidentiality. No photo use for portfolios whatsoever.
Seems just like the restrictions a programmer might face right? An infrastructure you can't replicate, code you can't publish, resources you won't have access too etc etc...
This was some years ago now and I've left photography behind but how did I ever get to do that job in the first place? Created stuff myself, off my own back, unpaid and at great time expense that showed I had the level of skill and ability to do it. I chased other photographers, contributed time and talent to their projects and made stuff myself.
And when the clients came looking I could show from my prior work and portfolio that I could do what they needed.
And what did I do afterwards? Took inspiration from what I saw at this event and made additions to my portfolio that showed I could solve the kind of challenges I faced there, proving to subsequent customers that new skill. I didn't just say 'oh dear, I can't use this so that was a total loss, let's not do anything about it.' I went out and made new stuff that showed equivalent skill, not recreating the photo, proving the skill.
Maybe I'm not being clear enough or maybe there's a misunderstanding of what type/level of photography I'm referring to so I'll state it plainly:
Photography was just an analogy. The key is you're not taking the original work that you did if it's restricted, the key is creating something that shows equivalent skill. Remember, I already said that as a creative you're selling yourself, not the end product, so you're not trying to recreate the particulars of the exact photo/code but demonstrate you have the skill/ability to create something of equivalent difficulty.
Need to prove you can run a big project? Well, run one. Do one yourself or join another. Find a way. Don't throw up a barrier every time something seems difficult or hard. It's meant to be hard. It might take a long time. Deal with it and get it done. That's what I'm saying.
People will tell you you're getting taken advantage of and doing too much for too little right up until you're working for some global mega corps running some incredible team, earning massive bucks and all that stuff. They'll keep telling you it until you believe it. Or you can ignore them and just keep going, keep making something to show what you can do and keep chasing the jobs you want with that big backing of proof of your ability that you've got.