02.06.09
Arabella St John Parker - Houses and Gardens Editor
The right advice and inside track on how to get commissioned
How did your career in the magazine industry begin? Have you always worked in magazines?
Actually, I never imagined I would end up working on magazines; I read them as soon I could afford to buy them and I built up such a collection of glossies that they filled a large spare room at my parents’ home. I finally had to part with them as they were doing nothing but getting damp, but it never crossed my mind to want to work on one. I felt that magazines didn’t last and I wanted to create something that did so I wanted to work on books. My early career was spent working for Phaidon Press imprints, but I found myself drawn to London and entered the world of financial trade newspapers, where I worked as a sub editor before becoming a news reporter and features writer for a number of years. But I still didn’t want to work in magazines. So it was a bit of a shock when I took a punt on a job ad in The Guardian to be a Sub Editor on Country Homes & Interiors and got the job.
What was your progression from there?
I stayed with Country Homes & Interiors for almost 10 years, working my way up through the ranks to become Deputy Editor before deciding that I wanted to change my brief and I moved over to Homes & Gardens to become its Houses & Gardens Editor four years ago.
For those that don’t know, what does your current role entail?
My main role is to fill with original material the real house and gardening features...some 55 pages or so each month. I both find houses to shoot and buy in real house and gardening stories, as well as writing and commissioning out related pages for both sections. I also write for the Homes & Gardens website and edit the magazine’s Gardening supplement.
What is the best thing about your job?
Working with professional, expert, enthusiastic and creative people to create one of the most beautiful magazines around today. As a magazine, we are incredibly fortunate to have access to the best of the best houses, gardens and products in the world, and to work with the leaders of interior and garden design; if your imagination is not fired up to create something equally splendid to reflect all that, then you’re probably in the wrong job.
How important is the photography in Homes & Gardens magazine?
It is absolutely key, at every single level, on every single page. Every photograph, and I mean every single photograph that is used in the magazine is carefully selected and we have a very clear brief for our photographers, whether they are shooting big eight to 10-page stories or single product cut-outs.
Who are the best photographers you’ve worked with in the past?
That is a hard call as I have worked with many, and the fact is that different photographers have different strengths and I commission each to suit the specific job in hand. The simple fact is that I have enjoyed working with all of them and have learned so much from them. The jump from film to digital was an exciting, interesting and, I think it’s fair to say, painful process for all of us but there are some really good practitioners of digital out there now and that is the standard of work we want to see in Homes & Gardens.
What are you looking for in a photographer?
I want a photographer who doesn’t just work to my brief but who knows or makes the real effort to understand the H&G style so well that they can push the brief on to a higher realm for me. I admit that I have a very clear view in my mind’s eye of what I want to see on the page at the end of the day, and I brief accordingly, but the best photographers will take that brief and if there’s scope to make it even better, will do so...
How important is it that they understand the magazine they’re shooting for?
As far as I’m concerned it is utterly crucial. In a tightly congested market, I would be amazed if a commissioning editor did not have his or her own brief, which is based on his or her own magazine’s identity, and while of course photographers can and do offer ‘one size suits all’ shoots to a selection of commissioning editors, I fear that this approach promotes blandness.
What is the best way for a photographer to approach you with images?
For houses and gardens, a comprehensive set of recce pictures, in lo resolution format, by email.
What do you think most photographers get wrong when approaching you?
They haven’t done their research into Homes & Gardens.
What would your advice be to someone hoping to be commissioned by Homes & Gardens magazine or wanting to pitch a story to you?
Look through as many back issues of H&G as you can; look at the range of features we do, and if it’s gardening or real house stories that you want to offer me, look at the pictures, the lighting, the angles, the people shots, the format of pictures and how we use them in layouts.
I used to say email me and ask for a brief, but these days, I get so many emails I’m drowning in them and with the best will in the world, I cannot answer them all! Telephone me, or read this article and I hope to hear from you soon.
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