My last post generated some interesting comments and questions. And man! Do I wish I had the answers.
But I do have opinions.
A reader asked, "Jimmy, if you were advising a new photographer who was determined to become the next Joe McNally or Annie Leibovitz, what advice would you give her?"
Well, first off, a big, BIG part of the answer is right there in your question: The word "determined."
It takes a lot of determination to become a McNally or a Liebovitz or a Richardson or any one of the many true success stories of contemporary photography. It's not only about the quality of your photos. Your photographs might be awesome and yet it's easy, in the world of pro snappers, to remain something other than someone referred to as a great and notable photographer. It's easy to remain a nobody.
I've heard plenty of people say, "Yeah, Jimmy's a great photographer." But they only mean that in the context of the sorts of images I snap. What they really mean is that Jimmy is a competent, perhaps even skillful, pretty girl shooter. The harsh reality for me is that, outside of my circle of friends, associates, clients, and a few others, there is no greatness attached to my photographic rep. I'm just some guy who makes a living with cameras in my hands.
Besides determination, I believe you need a plan. A marketing plan. A divinely-inspired marketing and self-branding plan that details--creatively, uniquely, and aggressively--how you intend to get to where you hope to go in the world of professional photography.
Let's say you want to become a famous fashion photographer. Well, first off, that's probably not going to happen if you live in or near Tulsa or Seattle or Bumfuk, Montana. You'll need to be where the action is. And the fashion-foto action is in the Big Apple, New York City. Maybe Miami to a lesser extent. But NYC is where the action principally resides. You could also, of course, travel overseas to Paris, Rome, Tokyo and a few other hotbeds of fashion-shooting. But, for the purposes of this update, I'll assume you'll be staying on this side of either pond.
Once you are entrenched in a fashion-shooting capital, you need to go after your dream with single-minded purpose. Nothing exists for you except that brass ring! You're a zealot! You wear blinders. Everyday should include accomplishments that brings you closer to fulfilling your goals. It ain't a vacation, it's a mission.
You never miss opportunities to advance yourself. It's all about you and your plan. You schmooze and you network. You've heard that phrase about being in the right place at the right time? You find out where those right places are and you get yourself there at the right times. Don't know when the right times are? You go there at all different times until you figure it out.
I know this stuff all sounds like advice without real substance but the few people I'm more than marginally acquainted with who have managed to grab their desired brass rings, and to hold onto them, literally, and I mean LITERALLY, applied themselves 365-24/7 (for years) to the job of getting to where they wanted to go. They were and remain, in almost every sense of the word, obsessed. Make that insanely obsessed!
And that's my final bit of advice for this update: You want to become a McNally or a Leibovitz? Become insanely obsessed with becoming one. (Some luck and good fortune won't hurt either.)
Photo at top: Tera Patrick in front of her hubby's chopper on the front walkway of their home.
8 comments:
I have a couple of the National Geographic photography books and in one of them, one of the photographers comments that his most frequent question is, "How do I shoot for NG?"
His answer is that to do that you must become what the NG photographers are, and what they are is obsessed.
They. Take. Pictures.
That's what they do. That's almost all they do. They do the marketing and the promotion and so forth like any other business person, but mostly what they do is take pictures and get as good as they can at taking pictures.
I got a few shots in Hawai'i that frankly, wouldn't look out of place in the National Geographic. But the key is that I got a few shots. Most of their rejects are better than anything but my very best stuff. And they shoot thousands of rejects for every image that goes into the magazine.
With this as in almost all things, what you pay for is what you get. As you point out, if you're willing to pay with blood, sweat, tears and time, assuming you have reasonable talent you too can reach that brass ring. But that first step is a doozy.
M
Jimmy, Thanks for responding to my earlier question.
Your answer nailed it. You've got to be obsessively driven by your photography, which includes--or perhaps is even dominated by--marketing your abilities and successes.
I have a hunch that it is harder now than before because of at least two reasons. One, digital photography and Photoshop has allowed everyone--people like me--to become a photography enthusiast. You just need to look at the success of TheStrobist blog to see how there are more enthusiasts than ever before wanting to become better. Thus, a greater number of enthusiasts want to achieve something more substantial and become true professionals.
And second, and perhaps more importantly, traditional print media is having an increasingly difficult time. Circulation is going down and costs are going up. This trend will never reverse. Consequently, there are likely less opportunities than before for a greater number of potential photographers who want to become the next McNally or Liebovitz or Richardson.
Given how closely you follow photography Jimmy, have you spotted new emerging talent that is likely to become one of the next great photographers? If photography were a sport, you could look to the advanced amateur ranks and see the next great ones. I am not sure that is possible with arts? As a follow-up, are the new greats likely to have shorter careers as true greats than those before?
KS
Yeah. What KS said. And Marc too!
As for up-n-comers, that's tough. I see so much good, really good, photography. Outside of their images, though, I have no idea about their zeal, commitment, and level of insane obsessiveness.
As you point out, KS, with digital technologies changing the face of photography, putting mad skills into the hands of so many, it seems most anyone can, potentially, make outstanding photographs. Whether they have the right stuff, or even the desire, to become notable pros I have no idea. And therein lies the answer, or lack of one, to who will become the next, great, shooter.
As you point out, KS, with digital technologies changing the face of photography, putting mad skills into the hands of so many, it seems most anyone can, potentially, make outstanding photographs.
I doubt many of us--as marcwphoto indicated as well--create outstanding images on a consistent basis. That said, I suspect many of us create images that are now good enough. They are good enough for the news distribution and many other uses.
I suspect the media is more concerned with speed than it is with it is with art or perfection. As an example, in Photoshop I often look at images that I see on the web from news sites. Almost all have "auto correct" applied to them, as if that magical setting somehow yielded the correct color and contrast. What it does yield, however, is consistent mediocrity and repeatability.
Here's another example of poor photography, look at the photograph of President Bush getting an update on Hurricane Ike.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/09/images/20080914_p091408cg-0081-515h.html
In this instance, not even Auto Correct was used. And even if it had been, it would have yielded a poor result. Just look at the whites in the U.S. flag. Using Photoshop Info, you'll quickly see that the whites are far from neutral white.
To sum up, while there is undoubtedly a lot of great photography today, there is also a lot of mediocre photography. In fact, we (most) often find mediocre photography where we expect better--that is, from reputable news and government sources. The emphasis today appears not be on excellence but rather speed to publication. And speed to publication is now within almost anyone's reach.
Good stuff!
I highly recommend this video as an example of what it means to be determined:
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/09/watch-chase-jarvis-entire-nyc.html
The talk is about an hour, and starts off a bit slow, but it is definitely worth the time spent watching it.
It's worth watching whether you a new photographer or an experienced pro. In fact, even if you don't care about photography at all, it is still worth watching.
Sadly you are right, schmoozing is the key to fame. I've seen many talented photographers (I hate the word amateur, it's inaccurate) who will never be famous because they're primarily interested in the photography, and don't give a hoot about the networking and self-publicity it takes to get your name out there.
Which is more important to a photographer, the passion of making the image itself, or the fortune and glory?
People don't understand that photography is gonna be your mistress for the rest of your life. be prepare for the long haul - yes, there's some stories of folks who managed to get to that brass ring than others but it ain't easy.
I work in the photography industry as a photo assistant and been busting my butt for close to a decade but I'm not there yet. Some of the photographers I work for "named photographers" are in their late 30s and 40s now and are managing to get their dues now.
I admit I get discourage a lot but I realized I wouldn't be happy doing anything else so I do my promo cards, make my usual yearly flight to NYC to knock on photo editor's doors.
I hate to say it, I have no personal life - all my time is devoted to photography and the business of phototgraphy. 7 days a week...even on vacation I'm thinking of what I need to do...
If you got that drive, chase it to the end. One shot at life y'all....
I wanna be like Jimmy. Great answer!
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