You don’t need a better way to talk about what you do, or a better gimmick, or a better social media strategy. In fact, you need to reinvent and rebuild what you make for a new reality, a reality where paying for something is an intentional act of buying something way better than the free alternative.
New Feature: Professional Photographer Webcast
On Wednesday October 16th at 2pm EST (11am PST) there’s going to be a live webcast here on the blog and over on google plus where we discuss working in editorial and commercial photography. Basically the mission of this blog only in a webcast where I can have guests and take questions from people watching. I’ve already done one as sort of a test run that you can check out and decide if it’s something you’d be interested in watching here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrS77wlfzYw
Vimeo version here: https://vimeo.com/76621579
The goal is to try a new format for discussing topics of interests for Professional Photographers and because I don’t think there’s much out there for pros it should be worth producing a few times a month. I also like the idea of having guests on and discussing everything freeform instead of writing blog posts, something I’m doing less and less of 6 + years into this. Each episode with have myself representing the editorial perspective and Suzanne Sease talking commercial photography plus a guest or two. Next week our guest is Art Producer Kat Dalager. Send me any questions you might have on the topic of Art Production.
With so many photographs on the Web every day, no one image gets to be special for long.
It’s not clear whether this flowering of image-making will lead to a more visually literate public—or simply numb us to the profound effects a well-made image can have. But the change is irreversible. Let’s hope the millions of new photographs made today help us see what we all have in common, rather than what sets us apart.
James Estrin via National Geographic: The Visual Village.
Turning Down Work For Your Beliefs
I have had many, many times when jobs fall through for reasons that are outside of my control. There haven’t been many times though when I’ve actively said no to a job and until last week, there had never been a time where I turned down a good paying job from a respectable agency because of ethical concerns.
That’s right. I left money on the table because I didn’t feel comfortable using my skill set to promote this particular client’s product. It was an extremely difficult decision. August is traditionally a slow month for me so when work comes along, and it’s paying reasonable rates, it’s really hard to say no. In this case however, I just couldn’t bring myself to work for this client. Without naming names (and please don’t try to guess), I will say that this client promotes a particular product that I just don’t fully support. I don’t think it’s good for people, the environment, our country or our future.
The reason I don’t want to identify this client is because the people who work for their agency of record are good people whom I like and want to continue to work with. I don’t want my ethical dilemma to reflect negatively on the agency’s business. This is an important point because I greatly value relationships and as a freelancer and small business owner it’s paramount that I maintain good working relationships.
The agency understood my position and even respected my decision. Which is pretty amazing when you think about it. There they were, offering me good money to shoot a job that countless other photographers would probably jump at. And here I am saying no to a job that didn’t even require any negotiation. Here’s the budget, here’s the shot list, it’s yours if you want it.
And, here’s the kicker. The actual assignment sounded interesting to me. I think it would have been a lot of fun to shoot, but I just couldn’t reconcile my feelings about how the images would be used. I thought long and hard about this assignment, but ultimately I had to turn it down. I like to think that I’m sticking to my ethical code and that I’m above selling out, but I wonder how the decision would have been different if the fee for the job could have been “life changing” for me and my family. Where do you draw the line and how do you balance supporting your family and maintaining a good conscience? There is a lot of gray area and only you can make the decision.
For now though, I feel good about not taking the job. Do I wish I was making money right now? Yes, but there are other jobs out there. Just to prove my point, literally within one hour of deciding to turn down this job I received an email from another agency asking me to bid on a much better job for a client that I can really pour all my energy into. Now just keep your fingers crossed that I win the bid.
This post originally appeared here: http://www.playingworkblog.com/2013/08/i-could-be-shooting-right-now-instead-im-writing-this/
A follow up post can be read here: http://www.playingworkblog.com/2013/09/the-opportunity-to-choose
Art Producers Speak: Andrew Reilly
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 Buyer: I nominate Andrew Reilly. Aside from talent for creating an image without it coming off as contrived or staged, he is one of the most even-keeled photographers I’ve had the pleasure to meet; his disposition conveys itself to his subjects as well, resulting in creative apogee.













How many years have you been in business?
I have been shooting commercially for about 4 years now but always seemed to have a camera around and was shooting for myself year’s prior.
Are you self-taught or photography school taught?
I am self-taught but there have been previous careers, which have translated well to my career as a photographer (most notably working in the editing department of several national TV productions).
Who was your greatest influence that inspired you to get into this business?
My grandfather, an avid amateur photographer.
He was an architect in the Pittsburgh area, where I grew up. He got to a point in his life when he no longer was able to use a camera as effectively as he had and passed all of his equipment on to me.
I first started shooting urban scenes and would often take those images over to his place and have him review and critique them. He was always very honest in his critique which at times was difficult but made me all the more proud when he liked an image…and in time he liked more and more of the images i was presenting. I am honored to have had that time and those memories with him.
How do you find your inspiration to be so fresh, push the envelope, stay true to yourself so that creative folks are noticing you and hiring you?
Much of what I shoot is based on my past…I shoot quite a bit of kids/teens/youth lifestyle and have found that these images show in some ways the life I have lived in my youth (what I did or wished I had done). I think it is that touch of reality that people connect to and provides the room to be called fresh and creative as opposed to contrived.
Do you find that some creatives love your work but the client holds you back?
I have been very fortunate to work with very creative clients who have trusted my work and me. Each job certainly presents its own unique challenges, but establishing a high level of communication between all allows for creativity from you, the agency, and the client.
What are you doing to get your vision out to the buying audience?
This year I have really placed a focused on setting up meetings with art buyers/art producers. I was recently in Chicago/Minneapolis for an assignment and added a few days to my trip. With the assistance of my rep we were able to setup 16 reviews between the two cities.
Prior to that I attended the NYC fotoworks LA event and was able to get in front of some great art buyers/producers. I have also set up several reviews on my own around Los Angeles or on various trips to San Francisco. In the next month I have a job in Boston and will set aside a day or two for meetings.
Aside from these face-to-face meetings I am also using various social media outlets (tumblr, instagram, facebook, twitter, blogs, etc), source books, direct mail pieces, and of course email promos.
What is your advice for those who are showing what they think the buyers want to see?
Shoot what you love in the way that you love it. In doing so people will connect to your work more honestly and get a sense of whom you are and what you are trying to present. You will also be more content doing the work you love as opposed to chasing after something you think someone wants to see.
Are you shooting for yourself and creating new work to keep your artistic talent true to you?
Yes, always and very much so.
I predominantly get hired to shoot people in commercial assignments, so with my personal work I tend to mix up the content as much as possible whether its landscape, architecture, or street photography…
I also feel it is important to use a variety of cameras (film, Polaroid, point and shoot digital, phone, or video) as each provides a different perspective of your subject which may later be translated into the project you are getting hired to shoot.
How often are you shooting new work?
I’m shooting new material all the time and try to make a point of shooting a larger project at least once a month.
A goal at the beginning of this year had been to donate my time/photography to a local charity…after searching around I stumbled upon a local foundation, ABC youth foundation, which assists at risk youth by structuring an educational program around boxing. After contacting the foundation I shot a few images for the program, which will be used on their site and various promos. The foundation also plans to use several images in a silent auction to help raise money for the program.
For me new work such as this recent pro-bono collaboration along with my usually personal work/testing really helps keeps my client work fresh and relevant…plus I just really love photography and shoot as often as I can.
Andrew Reilly is a Southern California based photographer traveling and shooting often for clients such as JanSport, Toyota, EA Sports, Mattel, Bank of the West, and many others.
www.andrewreillyphotography.com
andrew@andrewreillyphotography.com
443.676.1926
Artist’s rep
www.emissaryartists.com
liz@emissaryartists.com
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.
Houzz Has Your Image Rights, How Long Before They’re Selling Them?
It may already be too late. Houzz appears to be using the images posted by professional photographers to illustrate editorial stories they create for the front of the site. One photographer was contacted by a staff writer to find out who built what was depicted in the images with no mention of licensing the images for this reuse.
It’s not unusual for social media sites to have onerous terms when it comes to posting your images on their site. Generally this is because they have to host the images on servers which may be located anywhere in the world and repost the images at will for other people to see. To solve this they take all your rights… We’re all suspicious of what might come next but so far that’s been the extent of what they do.
Houzz has taken the first step in reuse that should be of great concern for professional photographers. Paying writers to create editorial content with images uploaded to the site competes directly with existing editorial outlets that pay for a similar use. So not only are they ripping off photographers they’re stealing readers from outlets with their free content. And as Houzz works towards a profitable business model they will start selling advertising against their freely obtained content… and their evil plan will be complete.
I’ve written about this before but it’s worth mentioning again. Google, Facebook, Twitter, Houzz, et al have not reinvented the wheel here (despite all the talk about new business models). They’ve simply discovered a lower cost way to obtain content: free (the business model of free has been around forever). And they’re now selling advertising against that content which is no different than how the New York Times, GQ, etc. operate. Except of course, those guys all pay for their content.
Photographer Caren Alpert first alerted me to the Terms on houzz.com:
“As part of your use of the Website, you may participate in certain ideabooks, message boards, member communications and/or other public forums. Your participation is voluntary; however, by choosing to create ideabooks, post photos or comments, send any messages, submit any ideas or feedback, or otherwise participate in any Houzz forum, you acknowledge and agree that any postings, messages, text, photos, audio/visual works, information, suggestions, feedback, reviews or content provided by you (collectively, “Content”) may be viewed by the general public and will not be treated as private, proprietary or confidential, and you authorize us and our affiliates, licensees and sublicensees, without compensation to you or others, to copy, adapt, create derivative works of, reproduce, incorporate, distribute, publicly display or otherwise use or exploit such Content throughout the world in any format or media (whether now known or hereafter created) for the duration of any copyright or other rights in such Content, and such permission shall be perpetual and may not be revoked for any reason. Further, to the extent permitted under applicable law, you waive and release and covenant not to assert any moral rights that you may have in any Content posted or provided by you.”
Black and white is a reduction of things, Color is an illustration of things
Black and white is a reduction of things. Color is an illustration of things…
via Elliott Erwitt, Coloring Outside the Lines – NYTimes.com.
Art doesn’t mean craft. And art isn’t reserved for a few.
the camera and commercial printing changed the very nature of art on canvas (and mass production changed sculpture). When anyone could have a print, or a vase, or a photo, art’s position as a signifier and a cultural force was threatened.
Hence the beginning of our modern definition of art, one that so many people are resistant to. Art doesn’t mean painting, art doesn’t mean realistic and art doesn’t mean beautiful.
What Makes A Great Portrait Is Your Willingness To Take What You Want
What makes a good portrait a good portrait is not the amount of collaboration, it is a photographer’s willingness to take what s/he wants. If that sounds too Nietzsche to you, then, well, maybe you don’t want to take portraits.
It’s much, much harder to be selfish when working with someone after having gained consent. This involves asking (and, possibly, rejection). It gets hardest when there’s more at stake than just a good picture – let’s face it, even the greatest photographs are just photographs, really not more, but also most certainly not less.
via Matthew Swarts and Beth | Conscientious Photography Magazine.
The Future Of Photography Will Be Nothing Like How We Imagine It
Interestingly enough, every year I’m asked to bid on a still photography assignment for a tourism client. Yesterday, I received the bid packet and there was a profound change. They were not asking for a quote for still photography. They were asking for a quote for video – and not just video – but video shot on a RED camera so that they could pull frame grabs from the footage and use those “still images” in their ads. Now, that’s a game changer.
via Journeys of a Hybrid.
People With 10k Instagram Followers Stay Free In This Hotel
At the recently opened 1888 Hotel in Sydney, Australia guests can stay one night for free if they contact the media department to show their social media mettle and follow the hotel on Instagram, of course. Everything about the 1888, named for the year Kodak released its first box camera and roll film, is designed with photo sharing in mind.
via Gizmodo.
Working In China
My post a couple of years ago about jobs in China on A Photo Editor occasionally generates some interested persons to reach out and take the time to email me about working in Beijing, Shanghai, or perhaps Shenzhen. There have been no takers that I am aware of for the jobs though, and the reasons are interesting, curious, worthy of review. I’m now at the two and a half years point in my relocation from New York City to Beijing; well beyond the rose-colored glasses, but not blinded by the smog either. This is an update to that storyline, which I thought would be interesting to APE’s readership, all of who undoubtedly hear a lot about the wonders of the Chinese economy. So bizarre and numerous are the stories in the news, that now The New York Times, Getty Images, and iStockphoto are all blocked in China along with just about every serious social media outlet produced in the United States, including Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.
Shaun Rein, an agile entrepreneurial consultant to industries interested in relocations to China, and I occasionally trade communication about the amazing adjustments necessary here and which make working in China as a small foreign business very difficult. Add on top of these situations, that I have initiated a creative-based business, and it’s been a ripe learning experience. In under the first two years, I bailed a job applicant out of a silence-only windowless detention center, was blackmailed by a college student intern, was locked inside of a store and manhandled to purchase knockoff wardrobe, been visited by local officials bearing cameras and voice recorders, been encouraged to pay countless kickbacks (particularly for models), had company salaries removed from the office (while I was on vacation), and then blocked from the market of Mainland China by a competitor. It’s thus a little tongue and cheek to say that I have learned more about operational fundamentals in Beijing via episodes of AMC’s Breaking Bad, than stories in Businessweek. That is not to say that McKinsey and Company level expertise is not warranted in this market, but rather that such operational mechanisms are handled, as Shaun Rein has reminded me, at the Fortune 500 level, and not the small entrepreneurial startup arena of 50 workers or less, locally referred to as SMEs (Small Medium Enterprises).
China is amazingly interesting now; yes, despite the hurdles. We just saw the initiation of a new government and officially mandated Five Year Plan adjustment. The country is blossoming in subtlety as I learn the local language and become increasingly aware of the social context framework. I have, and I really do believe this, the hardest working production team that I have ever had anywhere, here now operational in Beijing. We’re having fun (it’s important to remember that) and we’re making images in droves that were never available before to the Chinese economy (our modus operandi). All are model and property released with technical specifications for global advertising, from a market overflowing in IPR theft and with little historical involvement in international advertising. It’s an entrepreneurial venture that has awakened in me all the challenges that I was seeking and for which New York City no longer provided during The Great Recession of 2008 forward.
This write-up is an insider’s take on the notorious economy in China for foreign commercial art creatives interested in participating. It is important to know that the manner of the mechanics of the economy here in China are different than in the US, where equal opportunity meets equal amounts of work. China is very much divided in the scope of work available and where the jobs are going. In the years since the post on APE, I have come to know, and probably more so accept, that the economy in China is and will be for a very long time barred from foreign participation unless the individual is embedded near permanently locally. This makes what may seem like “doing business in China” very difficult for one-off trips of assignment work. That does not mean that there is no opportunity to pursue, but those opportunities would be best spent (for a foreigner’s time and money), in contacting the normal routes of introduction to clients…i.e., ad agencies in Asia, or, better yet, advertising/design agencies in the West with the interests in sending a photographer abroad to do the work.
That’s the short take.
The longer take, important to us all since this is looking to be among the preeminent future economies in the world, is that the reasons for this lay within the manner in which the Chinese economy is situating itself. The meat and potatoes are essentially this: there are two types of jobs in China.
In Group 1, are the Chinese client jobs aimed to local talent; primarily focused on price (about 1/3rd the foreign norm), and not particularly focused on creative achievement but rather “technical achievement” (can the chosen worker do the work performed?). A lot of the latter deals with lacks of trust running between Chinese society and their government, the manners of establishing credibility in the market, the educational system setup, and the like. The work is provided through networks of communication (one’s work relationships), and it takes time to get those and even longer to maintain them. One would have to be in China to navigate this, and I do not see this system changing in the near future. If one had an interest in pursuing Chinese clientele, the scope of obtaining the jobs is much more labor intensive than a drop of a portfolio and massage of a budget. One would have to be in the trust network, and provide a lot of pre-emptive service to estimate, re-estimate, shoot tests, and the like, in order to establish an assignment. This would be an assignment, which in the end, would not generally remunerate for the time to do this setup work. Thus, the market is going to remain segmented. To do this from abroad is logistically not possible. As Shaun mentions, “it can be challenging for foreign creatives to work with Chinese clients, as historically Chinese firms are not willing to pay top dollar for creative services and consulting while they are for something tangible like hardware.”
In Group 2, there is foreign client work using both local and foreign talent and the work is budgeted according to both international price and local price. It varies widely and depends on the job. These jobs are often being situated in editorial focus, such as events and news stories, corporate portraits, and similar kinds of work. Actual advertising work is channeling for Westerners by the Westerner being connected primarily to the Western client before China becomes the focus. Thus, the manner of getting the work is similar to the way that photographers are marketing now. This is the system in which one has a potential client knowledgeable about their commercial artwork, and the client happens to have an assignment in China, or India, or Chile, or Fargo, North Dakota. This manner protects the photographer for licensing and payment, the bigger concern being simply getting paid. The local established method of money trading hands in China is almost always one half of the money up front, and the other half upon delivery. This delivery part can leave the living-abroad individual hanging if there are not protective mechanisms in the middle. One has very little power in Chinese legal systems (both Chinese and foreigners alike).
After two years, numerous jobs have come across my desk, but in nearly every case they have fallen into one of the two groups above. Time and again, interestingly, I have listened to foreign photographers living in China resolutely state that all their work is generated from foreign-only clients, and I found this odd. Odd because, often their experience, their years on the ground, their language abilities, even their Chinese friends, would all seem to suggest that other options were available to these candidates. But, I did not come across situations where this factually, more than hearsay, appeared to be the case in marketing and actual work performed. It could be that this market in China is generally quite underdeveloped in maturity compared to the Western focus of photography/creative economies seen in other major cities where there is mentorship, “rules” of engagement, and situations inducing competition to innovate. Certainly this is the case to a large degree, as standardization is wide here, but still difficult to measure since there is no over encompassing organization and each individual is mostly left to his/her own manners of development.
China is a very interesting place and economy. In many ways, I wish that there were more easily-situated work available to back up the post online a couple years back, but what I came to learn was that those offers were in Group 1 above, and generally not realistically obtained for those working outside of China. It may be the case that as my understanding of Chinese work and life continues, I will see yet another subtlety to the situation and go back on my analysis here as to why these market offers of work are not being met with foreigners showing up and actually doing that work. Clearly there is money flowing in China and there is work to be had, but it’s the mechanisms and logistics that are barring foreign operators from participation. China has everything that the West has, but it has its own local version: YouKu is China’s YouTube, Weibo is our Facebook, and all of these established Western websites are blocked. This should give a taste for the complications and when one multiplies them by the idiosyncrasies of daily life, it makes what seems as easy as a plane ticket and visa, quite relatively removed.
The bottom line is this: One, do not expect it to be easy to work in China. Two, do not expect on-the-ground support to the degree of comfort and planning that the West offers. Three, plan to exercise a great deal of patience upon each setback. Four, plan on needing to be present for supervision and quality control throughout the process. Five, the cultural barrier is greater than the language barrier. Six, jobs pay less. Seven, everything is transient, have multiple backup plans. Eight, China isn’t inexpensive for foreign businesses anymore. Nine, the Kung Po Chicken tastes better. Ten, the Chinese experience is exhilarating.









Every Time You Choose A Conflict Photo As Picture Of The Year You Are Screwing The Industry
But, all the misery stuff, the public doesn’t want all the time. And that’s what I tell World Press Photo – every year they choose a conflict photo as the picture of the year, they are screwing the industry. Every time.
via Getty Images’ Jonathan Klein: “We need new economic models” – British Journal of Photography.
Getty Does Not Get The Value Out Of What Their Pictures Do For Their Customers
The model: “Here’s a picture, give me $100 and you can use it” will still continue and will still continue to be a big part of the industry. But in three to five years – no way. In three or five years, we’ll be saying: “Here’s our imagery. If you generate revenues on it, around it, relating to it, we want a piece of it.” It’s a bit like the YouTube Content ID model. And we’ve got the technology, and are building that. We, today, do not get the value out of what our pictures do for our customers.
via Getty Images’ Jonathan Klein: “We need new economic models” – British Journal of Photography.
Without Compelling Content You Have No Audience
These tech companies are increasingly becoming, culturally, a little more like media companies. They are moving that way. We found that the conversations with these companies have evolved so much over the last few two to three years – and we have to thank Apple for that as well, as they have essentially become a media company. The same goes for Amazon and Netflix. All of that is helping us.
via Getty Images’ Jonathan Klein: “We need new economic models” – British Journal of Photography.
Why Is There Sexism in Editorial Photography?
Guest Post by Erin Patrice O’Brien
I was doing a shoot last week for Golf Digest with Christian Iooss, the magazine’s director of photography. We were photographing a celebrity who golfs with a bunch of set-ups. I have worked with Christian and his deputy picture editor, Kerry Brady, a few times in the past.
It occurred to me that this was probably Christian’s first shoot where he just happened to be surrounded by all women. On that day, my two assistants,Lyndsey Newcomb and Rebecca Reed, were women, and the prop stylist Helen Quinn also had an entirely female crew. Christian and I talked about the differences between men and women photographers, some of which were apparent, others seemingly assumed by certain photo editors.
I always recognized that the editorial side of media seems to embrace, or at least maintain, the good-ole-boy network. It’s bothered me for some time, particularly given the female talent in the market on the demand and supply sides. There are plenty of amazing women photographers out there who are not getting hired by magazines in spite of the fact that the majority of photo editors are women. I’m pretty sure the break out among photo editors is 80% women and 20% men. With that figure in mind, I realized that of the editors who hired me it was a 50/50 split of female to male. The same thing goes for art buyers. Seriously.
After the shoot, Christian forwarded me a thoughtful blog post by a photographer named Daniel Shea. Daniel observed that there was an absence of women working on the magazines for which he was currently shooting and questioned why?
Thank you, Daniel. I have been questioning this for a very long time.
When in college, I spent hours at the library, looking at photographers whose work captured my imagination. I was into Sally Mann, Nan Goldin,Richard Avedon and Helen Levitt. When I opened magazines, I was inspired by the work of Annie Leibowitz, Sheila Metzner, Sarah Moon, Peggy Sirota,Pamela Hanson, Brigitte Lacombe and Ellen von Unworth. They were doing what I wanted to do. They were women photographers with their own vision who were making beautiful work. Mary Ellen Mark was my idol, closely followed by Melodie McDaniel, Cleo Sullivan, Dana Lixenberg and Elaine Constantine.
I would scour magazines to find the latest and most interesting work. I would rip out the pages from Vibe, Paper, and i-D with the work of Melanie Mcdaniel, Elaine Constantine, Dana Lixenberg, Cleo Sullivan, Anna Palma and Corinne Day. They inspired me. I loved their work. I loved their perspective. It made me think in a different way, and I learned from it. I would read The New York Times and be inspired by Brenda Ann Keneally. I printed at Printspace next to Baerbel Schmidt, Justine Kurland, Imke Lass, Sylvia Otte, Gillian Laub, Elinor Carlucci, Tracey Baran and an assortment of guys whose careers took shape much differently than mine.
When I arrived in New York City in 1995, I began assisting many photographers, including Jill Greenberg, Tria Giovan, Anna Palma and Ellen Silverman, none of who had assisted and all of whom had their careers going. I also worked for a bunch of male photographers. It was much harder to be a female assistant. I would work for fashion photographers as a second assistant and literally feel invisible on the set because the other women were skinny models who were sixteen years old. When I would pick up from the equipment rooms at any of the big studios, I was routinely treated like a “girl who couldn’t possibly know anything.” The men running the equipment rooms were bullies who hated their jobs and took it out on assistants who were not part of the cool club. Pier 59 anyone?
What I learned from Jill Greenberg was that you didn’t have to know everything technically. One could figure it out by experimenting or have an assistant show you how to do it. I saw her experiment and test things and be creative. She knew what she wanted. Jill was just a year older than me and she was doing it. We had our differences, but she took Michele Pedone and me under her wing and gave us solid work for a year on cool shoots as opposed to working for still life photographers wiping off perfume bottles.
When I look through magazines or online, if I see a picture that I love, 9 times out of 10 it is the work of a female photographer.
George Pitts was instrumental in hiring women and black photographers and showing a completely different perspective to the world. Vibe was first where I saw many incredible female photographers. It was breathtaking. Pitts told me once that he thought women were better photographers and it really stuck with me because I agreed. My favorite photographers have always been women.
I can’t tell you the number of times that people would come to my shoot and walk right past me looking for the photographer. Or how many times that I’ve been asked if I was the makeup artist simply because I was a woman standing on the set.
Some female photo editors who will go unmentioned that I have worked with put their own glass ceiling issues above women photographers.
Translation: Women don’t frequently help other women in business, even when it benefits both. A lot of times my work and that of other female photographers is relegated to the front of the book (magazine speak for work appearing before the feature well), while male photographers get the cover or the big feature story. Conversely, some of the male photo editors that I’ve worked with have given me some of my most challenging assignments that I am sure a female photo editor in the same position would never give to a woman.
There are many female photo editors who really do hire equally and have supported me throughout my career, and I am very thankful for and could not have succeeded without them: Leslie dela Vega, Doris Brautigan, Nickie Gostin, Michelle Molloy, Brenna Britton, Kathy Ryan, Crary Pullen, Lucy Gilmour, Donna Cohen, Rebecca Simpson Steele, Amelia Haverson, Fiona MacDonagh, Kathy Nguyen, Rebecca Horne, Heidi Volpe, Florence Nash, Helen Cannavale, Phaedra Brown, Julie Claire, Ernie Monteiro, Donna Cohen, Sarah Harbutt, Yvonne Stender, Kate Osba, Raquel Boler and Michele Romero…to name a bunch.
When I was pregnant, I was worried that no one would hire me if they knew, so I didn’t tell any photo editors until I wasn’t allowed to fly anymore. After I had my daughter, Maya, photo editors like Marianne Butler, Victoria Rich and Suzanne Regan hooked me up with jobs that were in NYC for a while, or said you can bring the baby.
When I get a call for a shoot, usually my first call is not to secure an assistant, but to make sure I have childcare coverage. I live in a community where I know other parents that are able to pick up my daughter if my shoot runs late or even have her sleep over. I feel blessed to make a living as a photographer. I love what I do.
And those skills of being able to manage a business, a household and a child are things that have taught me to troubleshoot and always be prepared for surprises that require solutions. I know that if an assistant, stylist or babysitter doesn’t show up I will still be able to do the job.
Daniel Shea says, “In my own personal experience shooting high-profile people and situations, shoots can get tense quickly, and you have to be able to be aggressive and assertive in a time-crunch situation. That is in no way meant to suggest that women can’t do that, but here is where sexism rears its ugly head—if women are perceived as being less able to handle those situations, that can definitely factor into the decision to hire men.”
The constant multitasking that is my life as a woman, mother and photographer makes me more qualified to deal with time crunch and stressful situations better than most. I am completely confident when doing three set-ups in an hour, which I did the other day, or handling the “you will have 10 minutes with this person” shoots. I can do these shoots with my kid pulling my hair or climbing on me because I can shut out everything except the shoot. It’s the nature of the job. It’s also my life.
One photo editor I spoke to told me, “As a photo editor (and not a photo director), I get to choose a short list of photographers, send them to my boss and hopes that he/she picks the one I want to use. I think a lot of time PEs want to hire women and their directors go for the guys—I don’t know why that is, maybe because they have a history, maybe its because their name is better-known. I have had many—MANY—conversations with editor friends of mine who keep having to hire the same male photographers because that is what their boss wants, I think most, if not all, PEs see the ratio and realize it’s fucked up.”
Women and men get different things from their subjects. It’s how we relate to each other. This is an important conversation. I know that Daniel Shea is compiling a list of female photographers that he would endorse which is great. I have my own list worth sharing.
My list has been in my head since I started shooting, and it keeps getting bigger. I am always checking out and inspired by the really cool work of women photographers. What female photographers’ work matters most lately? Delphine Diallo and Sarah Wilmer blow me away. Livia Corona, Lauren Greenfield, Gail Albert Halaban and Elaine Constantine are all doing things in different media, but to great effect and on their terms. Dulce Pinzon,Maggie Soladay, Amanda Kostner and LaToya Ruby Frazier are pushing cultural, social and economic boundaries with their extraordinary work. Sandra Myhrberg started her own fashion magazine, called Odalisque, where she employs a ton of women photographers. And the female brands behind some of the biggest corporate brands: Olivia Bee and Elizabeth Weinberg.
That Daniel Shea is bringing up this issue is important. But what of the many women—photo editors, for example—who can do the same but choose to sit on the sidelines instead, avoiding taking risks and playing it safe to their own career benefit? Women will rise in greater numbers when other women take risks by pushing the talents of unknown and little-known women, and by the continued support of men who have the power and influence to get women recognized. It’s not an either-or scenario. Both things have to happen. And men need to stop hiring other men who are just like them. By default that places women at a disadvantage.
Here is a big list of women photographers who are all…. killing it.
Portrait
Alessandra Petlin http://alessandrapetlin.com
Alison Aliano http://www.alysonaliano.com
Angie Smith http://angiesmithphotography.com
Anna Bauer http://www.annabauer.com
Annie Liebowitz http://annieleibovitz.tumblr.com
Autumn de Wilde http://www.autumndewilde.com
Barbel Schmidt http://www.baerbelschmidt.com
Cara Bloch http://carabloch.com
Cass Bird http://www.cassbird.com/
Catherine Ledner http://www.catherineledner.com
Christina Gandolfo http://www.cgandolfo.com
Dana Lixenberg http://www.danalixenberg.com
Danielle Levitt http://daniellelevitt.com
Darcy Hemley http://www.darcyhemley.com
Delphine Diallo http://www.delphinediawdiallo.com
Dulce Pinzon http://www.dulcepinzon.com
Elaine Constantine http://www.elaineconstantine.co.uk
Elizabeth Weinberg http://elizabethweinberg.com
Emily Shur http://www.emilyshur.com
Erika Larsen http://erikalarsenphoto.com
Erin Patrice O’Brien http://erinpatriceobrien.com
Eugenie Frerichs http://eugeniefrerichs.com
Flora Hantijo http://florahanitijo.com
Gabriela Hasbun http://www.gabrielahasbun.com
Gillian Laub www.gillianlaub.com/
Guzman http://www.lesguzman.com
Jessica Antola http://antolaphoto.com
Jessica Wynne http://jessicawynnephoto.com
Jill Greenberg http://www.jillgreenberg.com
Kendrick brinson http://kendrickbrinson.com
Kyoko Hamada http://www.kyokohamada.com
Lisa Wiseman http://www.lisawiseman.com
Lamia Maria Abillama http://www.lamiaabillama.com
Lori Adamski Peek http://www.adamskipeek.com
Mackenzie Stroh http://www.mackenziestroh.com
Martha Camarillo http://marthacamarillo.com
Mary Ellen Matthews http://www.jedroot.com
Megan Peterson http://www.meghanpetersen.com
Meredith Jenks http://www.meredithjenks.com
Michele Asselin http://www.asselinphotography.com
Michelle Pedone http://www.michellepedone.com
Morgan Levy http://morganrlevy.com
Naomi Harris http://naomiharris.com
Olivia Locher http://olivialocher.com
R. Jerome Ferraro http://www.jeromepix.com
Robin Twomey http://www.robyntwomey.com
Sage Sohier http://www.sagesohier.com
Sarah Wilson http://www.sarahwilsonphotography.com
Susana Howe http://www.susannahowe.com
Sylvia Otte http://www.silviaotte.com
Sarah Wilmer http://sarahwilmer.com
Lifestyle-Fashion
Amanda Marsalis http://www.amandamarsalis.com
Anna Wolf http://www.annawolf.com
Beth Perkins http://www.bethperkins.com
Brigitte Sire http://brigittesire.com
Catherine Wessel http://www.cathrinewessel.com
Chloe Aftel http://www.chloeaftel.com
Christa Renee http://www.christarenee.com
Debra LaCoppola http://photoduo.com
Ditte Isager http://www.ditteisager.dk
Emily Nathan http://www.emilynathan.com
Erica Shires http://www.ericashires.com
Ericka McConnell http://erickamcconnell.com
Jennifer Rocholl http://www.jenniferrocholl.com
Karan Kapoor http://www.karankapoor.com
Kate Powers http://katepowers.com
Kathryn Wolkoff http://katherinewolkoff.com
Melanie Acevedo http://www.melanieacevedo.com
Nina Anderson http://www.ninaandersson.com
Olivia Bee http://www.oliviabee.com
Samantha Casolari http://www.samanthacasolari.com
Sarah Kehoe http://www.sarahkehoephoto.com
Sue Parkhill http://www.sueparkhill.com
Terry Doyle http://terrydoylephoto.com
Thayer Gowdy http://thayergowdy.com
Venetia Scott http://www.clmuk.com/photography/venetia-scott
Fashion and Beauty
Amanda Pratt http://www.amandapratt.com
Amber Gray http://www.ambergray.net
Anna Palma http://annapalma.com
Caroline Knopf http://www.carolineknopf.com
Catherine Servel http://catherineservel.tumblr.com
Chloe Mallet http://www.raybrownpro.com/
Claudia Fried http://claudiafried.com
Claudia Goetzelman http://www.claudiagoetzelmann.com
Cleo Sullivan www.cleosullivan.com
Colleen Rentmeister http://www.colienarentmeester.com
Corinne Day http://www.corinneday.co.uk
Daniela Federici http://danielafederici.com
Elinor Stigle http://www.ellinorstigle.com
Ellen Stagg http://thestaggparty.com
Ellen Von Unwerth http://www.ellenvonunwerth.com
Gabriele Revere http://www.gabriellerevere.com
Indira Cesarine http://www.indiracesarine.com
Jamie Isaia http://jamieisaia.com
Jennifer Livingston http://www.jenniferlivingston.com
Julia Pogodina http://www.juliapogodina.com
Karen Collins http://karencollinsphoto.com
Kate Orne http://kateorne.com
Liz Von Hoene http://www.lizvonhoene.com
Melodie McDaniel http://www.melodiemcdaniel.com
Micaela Rosato http://micaelarossato.com
Ondrea Barbe http://ondreabarbe.com
Pamela Hanson http://pamelahanson.com
Paola Kudacki http://www.clmuk.com/photography/paola-kudacki
Sandra Myhrberg http://sandramyhrberg.com
Sarah Moon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Moon
Sarah Silver http://www.sarahsilver.com
Sheila Metzner http://www.sheilametzner.com
Stephanie Rausserhttp://stephanierausser.com
Yelena Yumchuk http://www.2bmanagement.com/
Still Life, Food Interiors Lifestyle
Alexandra Rowley http://www.alexandrarowley.com
Amy Eckerton http://www.amyeckertphoto.com
Andrea Chu http://chucandy.com
Andrea Gentylhttp://www.gentlandhyers.com
Andrea Wyner http://www.andreawyner.com
Anita Valero http://anitacalero.com
Anna Williams http://annawilliams.com
Aya Brackett http://www.ayabrackett.com
Beth Galton http://bethgalton.com
Beatriz Dacosta http://www.beatrizdacosta.com
Burcu Avsar http://www.burcuavsar.com
Diana Koenigsberg http://www.dianakoenigsberg.com
Ellen Silverman http://www.ellensilverman.com
Erika Rojas http://erikarojasphotography.com
Erin Kunkel http://erinkunkel.com
Katherine Barnard http://kathrynbarnardphoto.com
Leela Syd http://leelacyd.com
Linda Pugliese http://www.lindapugliese.com
Ngoc Minh Ngo http://patbates.com/ngoc_minh_ngo/
Melissa Punch http://www.melissapunch.com
Moya McAllister http://www.moyamcallister.com
Maura McEvoy http://www.mauramcevoy.com
Rachel Watson http://rachelwatson.com
Rita Maas http://www.ritamaas.com
Sara Remington http://www.sararemington.com
Tara Donne http://www.taradonne.com
Tria Giovan http://triagiovan.com/
Documentary
Amanda Koster http://www.amandakoster.com
Amira al Sharif http://www.amiraalsharif.com
Anastasia Rudenko http://www.anastasiarudenko.com
Andrea Gjestvang http://andreagjestvang.com
Annabel Clark http://www.annabelclark.net
Brenda Ann Keneally http://www.brendakenneally.com
Chiara Goia http://www.chiaragoia.com
Chloe Dewe Mathews http://www.chloedewemathews.com/hasidic-holiday/
Christina Paige http://www.christinapaige.com
Dorothy Hong http://www.dothong.com
Elissa Bogos http://elissabogos.squarespace.com
Ericka McDonald http://www.ericamcdonaldphoto.com
Emily Berl http://www.emilyberlphoto.com
Erin Siegel McIntyre http://about.me/erinsiegal
Gail Albert Halaban http://www.gailalberthalaban.com
Imke lass http://imkelass.com
Jessica Dimmock http://www.jessicadimmockphotography.com
Katarina Premfors http://www.katarinapremfors.com ngo, inspirational
Kate Brooks http://www.katebrooks.com
Kathryn Cook http://www.agencevu.com
Katrina Dautremont http://katrinadautremont.com
Latoya Ruby Frazier http://www.latoyarubyfrazier.com
Lauren Fleischman http://www.laurenfleishman.com
This post originally appears here: http://erinpatriceobrien.tumblr.com/post/60936647347/a-response-to-sexism-in-editorial-photography
People don’t value what they get for free
I’ve seen this in every business I’ve ever run. I’ve seen this in every service I ever provided. Now, I’ve given EXTRA things for free in many cases. But you always want a paying relationship with the customer. Or, as Porter Stansberrry has said to me, “your free audience will kill you.” How do they kill you? They always expect good work for free. They set the bar higher and higher. And they feel comfortable dictating what free things they should get from you. I don’t know why they do this. It must be some biological thing. But it happens.
via James Altucher.
I’m grateful the carrying of a camera made that happen
If we walk the world with open eyes and an open heart, the telling of such wonderful stories remains possible. The thought of that is enough, really, to take the cameras and put them on my shoulders every day.
via A Special 9/11 Guest Blog from Joe McNally | Scott Kelby’s Photoshop Insider.