Expert Advice: Blogging for Photographers

By Maria Luci, Wonderful Machine

The blog… While some have embraced it as an easy and fun way to keep others up to date on their latest projects and daily activities, to others, the mere mention of the word makes them cringe. Keeping a blog up to date, knowing what to write, or even how to begin, has become the bane of many photographers’ existences.

But whatever your feelings towards blogs, I do believe they are an important part of every commercial photographer’s business. As Wonderful Machine’s publicist, I have been writing daily blog articles on photography for several years now—and I’ve picked up a trick or two along the way.  So, for all your blog-aphobics, or even for the blog-aholics looking for tips, here are a few things I’ve learned…

Why Blogs Matter

Why have a blog anyway? I’m sure a lot of photographers ask themselves this question—and then many come and ask me. There’s no one answer, but the reply I give most often is that a blog is the perfect way to keep creatives updated. While your website should only contain the best of the best, and most appropriate work for each portfolio, a blog allows you to expand on this. You can show your latest work, interesting personal projects, maybe some photos that aren’t exactly in line with the rest of your portfolio. It’s also a great way to connect and show some personality—and the chance, if you’d like, to show a different side of yourself. Sharing behind the scenes info and fun stories helps creatives get a better sense of who you are and what it would be like to work with you. Another great thing about blogs? They’re free! While promos, emailers and just about everything else related to sharing your work costs money, a blog is a free way to share your work with the world.

A few more reasons to have a blog:

  • Creatives love them! I’ve heard from a lot of art buyers and photo editors that they like looking at photographers’ blogs.
  • Search engines love them! While your website may have little to no copy on it, blogs can be filled with keyword heavy copy and tags, making it easier for search engines and creatives to find you online (increasing your SEO).  A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a thousand words is worth more to Google (not that you have to write a thousand words in every post…)
  • Blogs offer RSS feeds, which automatically allows for syndication of your entries to a wide audience. It’s a simple and free way for creatives to follow you.
  • It can help further your brand. Have a fun, quirky logo and photo style? Fun, quirky commentary on a blog (with matching branding, of course) will enhance your brand. Structured architecture photographer? A blog discussing the structures you shoot can help cement your style, and help you be known as the photographer as opposed to a photographer.

Types of Blogs

There are a number of great blog platforms out there. At Wonderful Machine, we use WordPress, which is easily updateable and good for those who like to write. One factor I really like about WordPress is how easily I can schedule posts in advance. Going on vacation for a week? I can write articles ahead of time and set them to post each day, at whatever time I desire. Also, WordPress is chock full of plug-ins to help design, share, promote and otherwise make your blog simple to use and snazzy to look at. I’d recommend this platform to anyone who enjoys both customization and writing.

For those who find posting a gaggle of photos preferable to writing prose, I’d highly recommend Tumblr. It’s a snap to post photo upon photo—and then have those pictures shared across the web. Effortless is a word Tumblr uses to describe itself, and I certainly agree.

As a side note, Tumblr is also customizable, but you may not find the same ease, or at least support, as you would with WordPress. I’d also like to add that Tumblr can be a great way to share a personal project—like with Julian Love’s Clara Hayward project. Tumblrs are a cinch to set up, making it an ideal way to highlight a special series or to separate your corporate from lifestyle work.

For inspiration, here are a few of my personal favorite photography Tumblrs:

Other blog platforms to consider:

What to Blog About

Your blog can take a number of directions, but I’d recommend deciding which works best for you before you get too involved. Plan, plan, plan! For many photographers, posting daily pictures, Instagrams and behind the scenes photos works just fine. They’re not big writers, but they want to keep clients and fans informed on what they’re up to. Then there are the Chase Javrises and Zack Araises of the world, who enjoy sharing knowledge and opinions. Their blogs are populated with photo industry news, tips and insights. Their astute posts have earned them huge followings and have helped propel their brands and careers to the next level (but as I bring up in the next paragraph, this type of blogging isn’t for everyone). Then there are the photographers who simply post tear sheets from their latest assignments. All of these can be viable options, but before you jump into one particular style, make sure you can keep up with it and that it fits your brand and personality, as well as your time constraints.

When you’re planning out your direction, make sure you also consider your audience. I frequently find photographer blogs that are targeted toward other photographers, rather than the creatives who can hire them. And yes, Zack’s blogs are aimed at photographers, but he can get away with this because he often hosts workshops and speaks at events. This means he earns revenue off of his audience. He also seems to really enjoy being a spokesperson for the photography community and dedicates a lot of time and energy into it. But, if your primary goal is reaching art buyers and photo editors, make sure you shape your blog accordingly. Ways to do this can include writing posts that highlight your technical skills or sharing BTS shots that demonstrate how fun/easy you can be to work with.

Once you’ve chosen a direction, and acknowledged your target audience, the next step is more planning (sorry, but only fools jump in!). Before you start posting away, I recommend putting together an editorial calendar. Do you have interesting assignments coming up? Make sure you plan on taking behind the scenes images and set a date to sit and write about the job. If you’re more of a knowledge sharer, keep up with trends and current photography news. Also, plan out topics you can write about in advance—and schedule dates to write and post these articles. And stick to it! Here at Wonderful Machine, I post seven or more articles a week—which believe me, is pretty much a full time job, and I don’t expect this from you—but, the way I accomplish this is by having a printed calendar on my desk at all times. I pencil in article ideas and check them off (by filling in a little black circle) once they’re scheduled. Then I know I can move on to the next post. This way, I never miss a day and I know what types of articles I’ve been writing about and what’s missing. I also keep a running list of all Expert Advice articles written by the WM staff, along with ideas for future articles. Again, this lets me see what we’ve covered and what needs to be covered in the future.

My calendar for the WM blog.My WM blog calendar. 

Sample of our Expert Advice calendarExcerpt from our Expert Advice calendar. Initials indicate who I’ve assignment to write the article. 

Categories are also a good way to keep yourself on track. Come up with a few before you get started. Here, we haveWeekend Links every Friday and SaTEARday posts on Saturdays. Ideas for individual photographers could include designated behind the scenes days, weekly advice posts, monthly video shares or an interview column with fellow photographers or favorite clients. Creating categories and setting schedules makes blogging easier and helps keep you going when you’re feeling stuck.

Mostly though, I’d say stick to what you know. If you’re the person everyone comes to for advice, share that advice on your blog. If you’ve got ton of Instagram followers or great personal pics that just don’t work in your portfolio, post those on your blog. If you have interesting behind the scenes photos, share those. If you’re a writer, write! If you’re funny, be funny! If you’re lazy, well, maybe don’t start a blog…

Sharing and Tracking

Just as it’s important to track your website’s analytics, it’s also important to track your blog. Through analytics, you can see what posts generate the most buzz and which may be falling flat. This is valuable information, you don’t want to be wasting your time on posts no one reads. There are a number of ways to track how well your blog posts are doing. Number one being Google Analytics. It’s easy to set up and will give you a great deal of useful information. A few things you can track through Google Analytic’s include:

  • Number of visitors to your blog
  • How long each visitor stayed, what pages/posts they viewed
  • Where those visitors live, what language they speak
  • What pages they entered on, what pages they exited from (which can help you see which posts continue to be popular over time. For example, our Writing a Photographer Bio post continues to bring in thousands of visitors a month, even though it’s over a year old)
  • Traffic sources to your blog

In tandem with Google Analytics, I would also recommend using some sort of RSS feed with your blog. Google Feedburner (which unfortunately looks like it may be going the way of doomed Google Reader) allows you to see how many people are subscribed to your blog through RSS, how many people view each post through RSS daily, and which posts are the most popular via RSS each month. This is important to add to your Google Analytics results since many people never actually click through to a site when viewing through readers and/or email feeds.

I’d also advise posting links to your blog posts on your other social media pages, like Twitter and Facebook. To do this, I  use a link tracking service called bitly. Bitly creates trackable links for you, so you can see how many people click each one.

BitlyBitly example 

If you’re using a Facebook page, you can also see how many people view each post, even if they’re not clicking—this is called the “total reach.”

Photographers Doing It Right

There are plenty of photographers out there already doing everything right, blog-wise. Reviewing and keeping up with their blogs can help inspire you to write your own follow-worthy blog. Here are some of my favorites:

  • Zack Arias’s Ask Me Anything blog. Recently back from hiatus, Zack’s “Ask” blog brings in thousands of viewers and helps brand him as the go-to man for any and all photography related questions.
  • Chase Jarvis‘s blog. Chase’s blog has helped make him a “household” name in the photography world. Everyone knows about it and a heck of a lot of people read it.
  • Dana Neibert’s photo journal. Dana’s blog lets his images do that talking. It’s all photos. Let me rephrase that, it’s all beautiful photos (and a few videos). It gives the viewer a glimpse into Dana’s assignments while also solidifying his elegant photo style and brand. And, unlike his well curated website, his blog allows Dana to share all of his best photographs, whether they work in his portfolio’s edit or not.
  • Joe McNally’s blog. Joe’s blog takes you behind the scenes, and gives insights into his recent and past projects. His thirty plus years of experience shines through and makes for an interesting feed to follow.
  • Matt and Agnes Hage’s blog. The Hages are adventure/outdoor sports photographers, and their blog sure lets you know it. They’re constantly updating about their wild adventures from across the globe. If you’re into skiing, climbing or hiking, their site is interesting, whether you’re interested in photography or not.

Well, that’s about all I can cram into one blog post. If you’re looking for more individualized attention, or have questions about blogging I haven’t addressed here, shoot me an email at maria@wonderfulmachine.com.

Taking pictures on an offshore oil rig is serious business

This is fascinating. I’m sure there are lots of photography jobs with very strict requirements like this one. Would be fun to do a column on all the weird photo jobs out there. If anyone has one they want to write about let me know.

For starters, due to the risk of flammable gas coming up the oil well, normal electronics are banned outside the living quarters. Smartphones are strictly forbidden and regular cameras require “hot work permits” be opened prior to use.

The idea behind the permit system is that all potentially-hazardous activities must be centrally coordinated by a responsible/accountable person, to ensure that risks are managed appropriately and ongoing operations do not interfere with each other. The permit must be signed by the rig’s on-board management and posted in a central location. The permit then expires when the approver’s shift ends. Even once the permit is approved, you still need to carry a gas detection device when taking pictures, to provide a warning if flammable gas is present. It’s kind of a pain.

So to avoid that hassle, we use explosion-proof cameras. It sounds cooler than it is.

The first time I ever heard the term “explosion-proof,” it was at a job interview for an environmental toxicity testing facility. We were doing a tour and I saw the words “EXPLOSION-PROOF” in big red lettering on the side of a refrigerator! My mind immediately went to putting bombs inside it for safety, but all it really meant was that the fridge would not act as an ignition source if flammable materials (solvents, etc) were placed inside. Kind of disappointing.

Flash forward about six years, and working with explosion-proof equipment is now a part of my job responsibilities. We use airtight seals, gas purges, current-limiting devices, and all sorts of other methods to ensure nothing ever starts a fire if there is a gas release. This is a highly regulated area of engineering with very strict design requirements. Level sensors inside gasoline tanks, blower fans for grain silos, and coal mine excavators all must be designed according to tight standards such as ATEX.

These standards are intended for heavy industrial equipment, and can result in some absurd designs when applied to consumer electronics like cameras. Here’s a picture of our $5,000 explosion-proof camera:

Big, right? For $5,000 and the size of a brick, you would expect a high quality camera, but no. My flip phone in 2002 took better pictures. You have to hold it rock-steady for 5 seconds to get a decent picture, and the auto-exposure adjustment gives you all-white or all-black pictures about 10% of the time. The rechargeable battery (that metal thing bolted to the front) dies in about 30 minutes. Zoom lens? Hah! Macro shots? Hah! It’s a terrible, god-awful camera — and it’s one of the best available. As a result of using this beast, I have gigs worth of blurry, grainy pictures from the rig. They’re good enough to put in a daily work report, but mostly not fit for publication on the internet.

Read the whole piece here: http://oilgas.quora.com/Taking-Pictures-Seriously

Roman Vishniac at the ICP

by Jonathan Blaustein

Growing up, there was a lot of talk about the Holocaust. In the 70’s and 80’s, we were not yet so removed from the atrocities. People knew people who’d been in concentration camps, and, somehow, survived.

Back then, we Jews seemed to feel as if our particular horror defined us as a race. I can just imagine the perverse fun people must have had in certain Post-Modern-Theory classes, on certain college campuses in the 80’s. (African Slavery was the worst, obviously. It’s pointless to even discuss it, Jeffrey. Don’t be ridiculous, Stephanie, the genocide of Native Americans was worse than that. You know, smallpox in the blankets, killing all those bison to starve the people. Really, guys, come on. You’re both totally off base. Everyone knows the Holocaust trumps them all. Poison gas showers, OK? Screw me? Screw you.)

It’s safe to say that people have done lots of nasty, unspeakable things to other people down through the eons. There’s not much new under the sun, as far as human cruelty goes. For millennia, though, there was no photographic evidence. Nowadays, we can see pixelated packets of bloody misery any time we want. (Whether it’s Quadaffi getting violated by a justifiably furious horde, or that poor British soldier after he got chopped to pieces on a London sidewalk.)

It’s far too easy to become inured to it all. I even skipped the Oklahoma City tornado news coverage last week, as I was so tired of empathizing with the tragedy of the moment. Not to suggest those people didn’t suffer enough. Just the opposite. The constant barrage of other people’s misery can be a bit much to bear, sometimes.

So I was truly surprised at the power of my reaction to “Roman Vishniac Rediscovered,” a recent exhibition at the International Center of Photography in New York. I saw the show in April, shortly before it closed. To be honest, it was kind-of an accident. A friend was having a book signing there on a Friday night, so admission was pay as you wish. (I coughed up a buck.) Had that not been on my agenda, I would have missed the show entirely.

In the museum’s basement, there was a large selection of photographs of the Jews of Germany and Eastern Europe on the cusp of the Nazi rise to power. The black and white pictures were absolutely superb. Cobblers and merchants, fathers and sons, farmers and city folk. Big brown eyes expressed emotions, people went about their business.

Essentially, it was a documentary project that focused on a culture on the verge of annihilation. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m not sure if anything else like it even exists.

Yes, I’m Jewish, as I’ve said many times, but I identify as an American more than anything. (I’m fourth generation, and none of my close relatives remained in Europe through WWII.) My years of miserable Hebrew School irrelevance squashed much of my Jewish identity away. (Despite the fact that I mention it here often.) My point is that I’m not sure my reaction was specific to members of my tribe.

I almost cried so many times. (Five or six.) I felt like screaming out at the people in the rectangles: Run for your lives. Get the f-ck out of there. Hitler aims to drink your blood. (Futile, I know.) Even if they hadn’t been killed, they’d be dead by now anyway. One of the ironic and beautiful subtleties of our medium.

There was also a film projection, showing a group of sturdy Jewish farmers in the Carpathian Mountains. But for the attire, they looked like they could have been my neighbors in 21st Century Northern New Mexico. It would have been fascinating if it weren’t so terribly sad.

I’d never heard of Roman Vishniac before I visited his show. Maybe you’re familiar with his work, maybe you’re not. Either way, I highly encourage you to look it up here. No, it won’t be the same as walking through a physical space. (Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to write this before the exhibition closed last month.) But there is an old saying about those who are unfamiliar with history being condemned to something or other. You know what I mean?

Is it insulting to be replaced by iPhones?

A camera is just a tool. A carpenter using a hammer and me using a hammer are going to get different results. I can use a hammer but I don’t know how to make a table. For me it’s not about the camera, it’s about the skill and the storytelling ability.

I heard from a reporter yesterday who shot two features with her phone and she marveled at how much time it took to shoot the photos, choose the ones she wanted, edit the photos, upload the photos—she just had no idea how much time it took. The product of the reporting and the photography is going to suffer.

via The Daily Dot – A talk with Rob Hart, the photographer behind “Laid Off From the Sun-Times”.

The Daily Edit
Bazaar: Victor Demarchelier

Friday: 6.7.13

Creative Director: Stephen Gan
Design Director: Elizabeth Hummer
Photography + Bookings Editor: Stephanie Hughes
Associate Art Director: Gary Ponzo
Senior Photo + Bookings Editor: Ashley Curry

Photographer: Victor Demarchelier

 

(click ad to see today’s visual interview )

Art Producers Speak: Mark Tucker

We emailed Art Buyers and Art Producers around the world asking them to submit names of established photographers who were keeping it fresh and up-and-comers who they are keeping their eye on. If you are an Art Buyer/Producer or an Art Director at an agency and want to submit a photographer anonymously for this column email: Suzanne.sease@verizon.net

Anonymous Art Producer: I nominate Mark Tucker. Mark is quite simply a master story-teller. In a single frame he is able to capture the essence of his subject. His portraits are timeless and evocative. Mark’s keen eye always finds that one-in-a-million face and light it perfectly. The result is always an image comprised equally of candor, soul and emotion.

A recent wet-plate portrait diptych from a workshop in Pittsburgh. We did the event in old lodge, with great light and architectural details.
Ad campaign for Amtrak, highlighting the leisurely pace and nice views outside the trains. Photographed in Florida and southern California. (AD: Bill Cutter; AB: Andrea Ricker; Arnold/Boston).
This was our first commercial project with wet-plate collodion -- a CD package for the band The Mavericks. Here are two of the 8x10” plates from the individual portraits of the band. We shot the five band members over the span of two days, and then a group shot at the end of the second day. Each plate takes about fifteen minutes, start to finish, so we had to allow for this pace, and hope the band would be patient. (CD: Sandi Spika, Big Machine Records).
The tiny town of Leipers Fork is about twenty miles from Nashville. They host a Redneck Christmas Parade each December -- everyone brings their jacked-up car, or outhouse, and they drive it down Main Street. Like Mayberry RFD gone bad, but in a fun way. I was there shooting, and Floyd, a local resident, rode up behind me on his horse, with his permanently-mounted cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth. He lives with his brother, outside of town, with no electricity or running water, (by choice).
Since moving to New York City, I'm out on the streets, looking for portrait opportunities. This is very recent, from an Israeli parade on Fifth Avenue. This is a newspaper publisher that was involved in the parade. In front of MoMA, on 53rd Street.
I was at PhotoNOLA a few years ago, and went into a diner for a burger. This eccentric couple was sitting in the booth across from mine. I patiently waited for them to pay their tab and leave, and then asked if I could shoot a quick portrait on the sidewalk outside. The whole scene feels like 1969 Haight-Ashbury to me.
We’ve worked on a summer project for Jack Daniels Distillery for a number of years. This is actually our client, Randall Fanning, from the distillery. We drafted him into being a rural weather man, along with his dog. They called this image “Checking the Weather”. This image was a national finalists in the Addy Awards. (CD: Nelson Eddy; AD: Jan Mattix; Dye Van Mol Lawrence).
This diptych was made early in the process of learning the wet-plate collodion process. Wet-plate has been very satisfying, in getting back to the tactile process of creating a physical piece of work, and working in the darkroom again. This was shot on an old Sinar 8x10, and double-exposed in the camera holder -- the model and the roses set up side by side.
I met this Vietnam vet newspaper salesman on the side of the freeway one day, on the way home from a job. Great face. I pulled over and asked him if I could shoot a portrait.
A book cover image for "Wicked Lovely", a novel by Melissa Marr, for Harper Collins Publishers. The first book in a series of three. Shot in NYC, and trying to hit focus -- wide open at f1.8. (CD: Alison Donalty, Harper Collins).

 

 

How many years have you been in business?
I started shooting on my own at age 23, in 1982, after assisting in NYC and LA. I renovated an old loft building in downtown Nashville; I lived downstairs and worked upstairs. My main clients in the beginning were department stores, magazines, and record companies.

Are you self-taught or photography school taught?
I went to college at Western Kentucky University, for photojournalism. After the first couple of years in school, it became apparent that I was headed more toward a commercial style –wanting to prop and light pictures, rather than go with the straight PJ approach. I began to work with the one strobe pack that we had in the cabinet at school, and I’d shoot at night, and then process and print until the wee hours. It was an incredible period of learning and growth. My professor, Mike Morse, gave me constant encouragement even though he knew I was heading in a different direction from the newspaper photographers. I’ll always be thankful to him for that encouragement; I’d bring him a Fixer Tray at 7am, when he came in to start his day, and show him what I’d been printing all night.

Who was your greatest influence that inspired you to get into this business?
There were many influences: Norman Seeff in Los Angeles was doing great work in the music business. That’s where I wanted to go –toward Music and Editorial. I actually ended up leaving college early, moved to LA to assist, and knocked on his door. His B/W printer, Keith Williamson let me hang out there. That was about 1979. I also followed the fashion work of Guy Bourdin, the inventive work of Moshe Brakha, and the music work of Joel Bernstein. I loved Duane Michals’ work with multi-frame storytelling. Bert Stern and Art Kane were also big influences. But probably the biggest was the work that Annie Leibovitz was doing at Rolling Stone, and then Mark Seliger, later on. My goal was always environmental portraiture.

Do you find that some creatives love your work but the client holds you back?
Every commercial project has certain parameters. You just know that, going in. You push as much as you can. But in the end, it’s a team project. It also changed, once the business went from Marker Comps to PDF Stock Swipes; the rules got tighter; the boundaries more enforced.

What are you doing to get your vision out to the buying audience?
For years, we were successful with these 6×9 inch, 24-page direct mail booklets for agency work. If I went on a road trip to shoot personal work, I might also mail out a series of eight or ten post cards in an envelope, afterwards. We got away from the 6×9 direct mail for a while, in exchange for email blasts and directories, but my goal is to return to the direct mail format soon. In the end, you still hope it’s ink on paper, so I try to show the work that way.

What is your advice for those who are showing what they think the buyers want to see?
It’s tough to give advice to others. It’s a really subjective choice on how to market yourself. I do feel though, in the future, the people really staying in demand will be very narrow specialists, rather than generalists. I think the goal is for your images to have your firm individual thumbprint on them –find a style or technique and really milk that specific look and feel. The glut of photographers has really changed the business. You have to do something bold, or else you simply slip through the cracks. That’s just my own personal opinion.

Are you shooting for yourself and creating new work to keep your artistic talent true to you?
I try to be always working on a personal project, to keep the spark alive. For many years, I’d go on short international trips, just to get my mindset into a different culture. India; Cuba; Ecuador; Mexico; Germany; Czech Republic –I’d simply go with one body and two lenses, and try to sink into the place. The goal was to immerse myself into a different way of life. When I’d return, I’d prepare a Direct Mail piece that would go to agency art directors.

In addition, about a year ago, I did two workshops to learn the wet-plate collodion process. I was missing the craft of the darkroom and the tactile aspect of creating a physical print. It was probably a bit of a recoil against digital also. I began a series of portraits with a wooden 8×10 camera. It was very satisfying to slow down and really focus on the craft again. I thought it might even dovetail into some commercial projects, but the slow process is not that conducive to this new “six setups per day” mindset.

I also started a little side blog last year called MyDayWith.com, where I’d shoot stills and video of interesting people in my town. It was a good chance to shoot video, and to simply shoot for myself in a loose editorial style.

——–
Mark Tucker
http://www.marktucker.com
Represented by Tricia Scott at MergeLeft Reps
http://www.mergeleftreps.com
212-840-0321

Mark Tucker is a portrait and lifestyle photographer based in Nashville. He works with clients in the pharmaceutical, tourism, publishing, music, banking and health care industries. Clients include Amtrak, Jack Daniels, Eli Lilly, Novartis, PacifiCare, State Farm, Harper Collins, Penguin Books, Little Brown, General Brands, Regions Bank, Alabama Tourism, Colonial Williamsburg, and Vanderbilt Medical Center. He is represented by Tricia Scott at MergeLeft Reps in New York.

APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s, after founding the art buying department at The Martin Agency then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies. She has a new Twitter fed with helpful marketing information.  Follow her@SuzanneSease.

 

Put Out Solid Work, Stay Fresh And True To Your Ideas, And You Will Have A Successful Career

people think that it’s going to be this “new up and coming” person who is going to take over, and I don’t think that that is necessarily the rule. I think as long as you are putting out solid work, good work, staying fresh and true to your ideas, and evolving with time, then you can have an extremely successful career. And I like to see that versus “trend.”

via One Art Producers Point of View: Photography Portfolio Review Events. Part I | Heather Elder Represents Blog.

Photographs Push First Amendment Boundaries

I don’t know much about Richard Prince, but I like to think that he’s in the business of operating at the edges of what’s acceptable. Whether he’s pushing the boundaries or just working in the grey area I think it’s important for art to have trouble makers. I’m more comfortable thinking about blank canvasses and drawing on top of images as important for pushing boundaries that other work can be built upon than worrying about whether this is something that will be admired centuries from now. I believe the title of this piece Jonathan Blaustein wrote for me: “You Don’t Always Get Art, But We Still Need More Of It“.

So, what about the grey area when it comes to photography and privacy. This is certainly a contentious and topical issue when it comes to paparazzi chasing celebrities or people taking pictures of slaughterhouses. Recent attempts at legislation in those areas (here, here, here) suggest people would like to limit the first amendment right to photography in public places. An exhibition at the Julie Saul Gallery in Chelsea seems to be pushing the boundary of privacy and photography. Photographer Arne Svenson shot pictures of residents in a neighboring building with a telephoto lens from his own apartment across the street. In a story for the New York Times Magazine, Photography Director Kathy Ryan contemplates the artistry vs. privacy issue:

These particular pictures are problematic, even for those, like me, who overwhelmingly side with artists and journalists when it comes to questions of freedom of expression. I support the artist’s right to make and exhibit his art and feel Svenson has the right to exhibit these pictures. But if images surfaced in a gallery of my daughter in our home, shot by a photographer using a long lens without our knowledge, I wouldn’t be happy. So the question arises, is it art when it’s a photograph of someone else, but not when it’s you or your family?

(Read the rest here)

I think in the end Arne Svenson may run into “a reasonable expectation of privacy” which is what makes street photography and making pictures in public possible and taking pictures of people in their homes illegal (Note: consult a lawyer, this is just my opinion).

But, I agree with Kathy in her conclusion that “the freedoms enjoyed by artists and journalists are worth possible breaches of privacy.” Boundary pushing is good for art, we don’t always “get it”, but it allows other artists to build upon it.

It Doesn’t Get Any Easier With More Experience

Well I must say that it doesn’t get any easier because as you get more experienced and as you go further you’re trying to work with more complexity, and take more complexity and create more simplicity. Because you’re older and hopefully experienced you see things as a larger whole so your job then becomes more difficult because you’ve got to synthesise all these many different points into a single reality – a photograph. So the job doesn’t get any easier it gets more challenging. It’s very important that the job is challenging because if it isn’t you shouldn’t be taking the picture.

via Ten questions for photographer Roger Ballen – Phaidon.

The Daily Edit
New York Times Magazine: Iwan Baan

Wednesday: 6.5.13

Design Director: Arem Duplessis
Director of Photography: Kathy Ryan
Art Director: Gail Bichler
Deputy Art Director: Caleb Bennett
Deputy Photo Editor: Joanna Milter
Photo Editors: Stacey Baker, Clinton Cargill, Amy Kellner
Designers: Sara Cwynar, Raul Aquila, Drea Zlanabitni

Photographer: Iwan Baan

 

(click ad to see today’s visual interview )

Advice for Photo Assistants: Getting in with Production Companies

by Demetrius Fordham

In my first post on photo assisting, one of my biggest pieces of advice for photo assistants was to get in with production companies. And though I touched briefly on why, I got a lot of emails and comments asking for more details on how to better get on the radar of production companies, and what producers expect from photo assistants in terms of knowledge and prior experience. Being a photo assistant myself, I can only speak pretty generally to these questions, so I sat down with my longtime friend Josh Marianelli, a producer and studio director at the California-based Corey Rich Productions to get the lowdown on how to get hired at a major production company and what producers are looking for.

First things first. How can a photo assistant get on the radar of a production company, and ultimately, get hired?

Word of mouth works well – being recommended by another assistant or producer goes a long way, so try to make as many connections as you can on any job you work on. (Obviously, while also being respectful of the existing relationships on the job, and not selling yourself too hard). Use social media channels to stay connected with producers and always be ready to share your work history or up-to-date portfolio with any production company looking to hire. Getting hired is also about being the right match for the production company. For example, at Corey Rich Productions we do a ton of physically intense outdoor shoots. So, depending on the job we’re tasked to shoot, we’re looking for assistants who have the right capabilities beyond camera and lighting knowledge – assistants who can climb mountains, cross glaciers, have the strength to be on the road for multiple weeks, confidently travel through Pakistan and hike into the Karakoram. It always helps, in my experience, to have a unique skill set that might be advantageous to the types of productions you’ll be working on.

Also, once you’re hired by a production company, do your job well. We don’t turn and burn assistants – once we find a qualified assistant, someone with the right attitude, who works hard and plays hard, we’ll work with them over and over again.

What kind of general knowledge do producers expect from photo assistants, aside from equipment mastery and lighting/tech skills?

Beyond camera, lighting and tech skills, our expectations have more to do with attitude than with added knowledge. We want our assistants to be engaged, completely aware of their surroundings, and to be independent-minded and self-sustaining. This means thinking on his or her own about what needs to happen throughout the day, project and set. We also expect assistants to respect the work environment and be aware that they’re part of a bigger team that includes everyone involved within the project, at any level or any capacity. We expect them to be respectful of the client, especially if there is one on set. Leave your ego at the door, show up and be passionate about what we’re doing – and enjoy yourself while working with us!

Does a photo assistant’s professional background or experience ever factor into your decision to hire them on a job?

Most definitely. I mentioned this earlier, but most of the time we don’t just hire for photography or technical skills, we’re also looking at personal skill sets and backgrounds and unique knowledge dependent on any particular assignment, whether it’s operating certain machines and equipment, to knowing how to navigate a certain city or corner of the globe, or having certain language skills and organizational skills. We are looking for assistants who can basically add to the abilities of our team.

Anything assistants shouldn’t do when trying to get a job with a production company?

Absolutely don’t embellish or fabricate any of your abilities or experience. When it comes down to it, those capabilities you sold us on will be tested, particularly with the types of shoots we do. We expect you to confidently show up and perform at the level that you sold us on – not just when it comes to cameras or lights. For example, if you can tell us you can ski, you’d better be able to ski! No matter how large or small the task seems, we rely on our team’s ability to hold their own and contribute to the end goal of successfully and safely wrapping a production. Of course, you can never completely avoid an accident – that’s part of production – but if you approach every job with an honest assessment of your experience, you can help to eliminate costly mistakes and safely contribute to completing the job. For instance, if you’ve never worked with lighting equipment around water, and don’t know how to safely use or connect a ground-fault circuit interrupter or safely set up and secure lights of any size, don’t tell us you have – the risk is too high.

Any additional tips for photo assistants trying to get in with production companies, or just succeed at their profession in general?

The industry and environment that we work in has changed dramatically over the past decade, and we’re no longer just shooting still photos. Moving picture and audio work make up at least 50% of the jobs we do today. Increased knowledge, specifically related to operating and working with video and audio equipment, technology and software, will increase an assistants’ chances of securing more jobs. Whether it’s in a corporate office environment or a far-off remote location, an assistant who can confidently handle and operate all the gear associated with still and video productions, including audio, will be able to sell themselves to a larger number projects. Having an assistant who can smoothly transition from still to video to audio and switch back and forth between all equipment on any set, is a huge asset to any size production but particularly small crews that share multiple responsibilities and wear many hats. When it all comes down to it though, make sure you enjoy what you do! At Corey Rich Productions, we want our crew to have fun and not take themselves too seriously – and hope anyone we work with can do the same.

If you have any more tips or questions on getting hired or working with production companies (or getting hired as a photo assistant in general) feel free to comment below or get discussion flowing on the Photo Assistants’ Association Facebook page.

The Daily Edit
Wired: Joachim Ladefoge

Tuesday: 6.4.13

Design Director: Claudia de Almeida
Art Director: Bradley R. Hughes
Photo Director: Jim Merithew
Senior Photo Editor: Carrie Levy
Photo Editor: Kristen Fortier

Photographer: Joachim Ladefoged

 

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