12.04.10
Sisters doing it for themselves
As a young woman embarking on a career in fashion photography, Rebecca Litchfield, the recent winner of our Professional Photographer of the Year 2009 award, wrote to esteemed fashion photographer Bronwyn Kidd for her advice on how to progress her career and achieve her goals. Bronwyn’s response was exactly what any young photographer needs to hear.
Dear Bronwyn
My next step as a fashion photographer is to try to get magazines to commission me to shoot a story. I’d like to shoot for magazines like Dazed and Confused, Vogue Italia and I.D. Until now, I have been published in various magazines by submitting images, but I want to be in a situation where editors are asking me to shoot specific ideas they have for fashion stories. I have spent the last four years testing with models, and over the last two years I have focused on putting together full fashion teams. My masters degree in fashion photography has given me the opportunity and time to create a good range of fashion shoots with talented teams for my book and for submission to magazines. I still see testing as something that is very important, as I believe that personal work is important for a photographer to fuel their creativity and passion. In the future, I want to focus more on getting a good range of commissioned shoots and tear sheets to add to my book, using agency models, as this is something my book lacks. I want to do this before approaching agencies, as ultimately I would like to be represented by a good agent.
When it comes to marketing myself, I am a little stuck on who to approach and what the formalities are for going about this. Now I have my book up to date and looking great, I could do with some advice on who to approach and how. I would also like some advice on how to get an agent.
I feel I have only just begun an amazing journey. I’m excited about the direction fashion photography is taking. It seems to be getting a lot more creative and conceptual. This is very much the way I like to work, creating shoots full of great ideas, emotion and concepts. I see a lot of fashion stories that, while being technically perfect, lack ideas and creativity. Photographers that I have been inspired by are David La Chapelle, Tim Walker, Bruno Dayan, Miles Aldridge and Annie Leibovitz. I like the idea of creating a world that the public wouldn’t necessarily see in real life. To me, this makes the fashion more exciting and, I believe, something that the public will want to buy into as opposed to a simple photo of a model striking a nice pose. Put that model into an elaborate well thought-out fashion story concept full of great ideas, and the viewer will want to take a second look at that image and pay more attention to what is being sold. My style of photography is big in conception and ideas, and with bigger budgets, I could start to visualise the ideas I have swimming around my head. Thanks for your help and advice.
Rebecca
www.lovethevoid.com
Hi Rebecca
Big congratulations on winning Professional Photographer of the Year 2009 and thanks for your letter. It seems that you are going about breaking into the industry in the right way. There are no hard-and-fast rules of success in our industry, except work hard, keep your vision and meet the right people! Magazine submissions are good as they get you noticed. Keep this up. Go to meet the model agents, conduct go-sees, get people saying your name, build up your team of stylists, make-up and hair, and surround yourself with dedicated assistants.
While accumulating new work, make sure you show it. Email any new work to potential clients and your desired publications (Dazed, I.D etc). But remember, only send your best work, keeping in mind that fashion editors, creative/art directors and picture editors will be quick to pigeon hole you. Once again, maintain a clear vision of how you want to be seen.
With regard to photographic agents, the same principles apply. Work out who would best benefit you. Look at who else they represent, who their client base is and what their ethos is. Do not go for an agent who is going to push you in the opposite direction. Agents do have fingers in lots of pies, but they need to be the right pies! Call the agent you would like to be with, make an appointment to meet with them, or drop off your book. Just get in there and let them see who you are, as they need to like you and gauge your dedication.
Photographers and marketing are not often a great mix (we’d rather be out taking pictures!), but with the internet, there is so much you can do. Be creative, show personal work, keep feeding the imagination of your prospective clients, the talent agents, and your team. There are fewer expenses involved in marketing yourself today, so be adventurous. Look at what your peers are doing, because there are often trends here, too. If you have the body of work or the network, exhibitions are a great way to market yourself, group or solo, and competitions can earn you recognition as you know. Also, a little prize money is always helpful in fulfilling future projects. It is great that you want to push your fashion images. The photographers you have mentioned and admire all push their vision. What is great is that, given the same subject, they would all approach it differently, as would you. This is because they live their work, their ideas are influenced by their desires, their past, present and future. Don’t forget to get out and live; don’t just sit at the computer!
More than ever, photography, fashion and image making are evolving. Within this, you will find it easiest if you choose your position and stick by it. If it is to pursue elaborate or clever concepts, then really work at that. Good luck with your future in photography, Rebecca, I am sure you will enjoy the ride!
Bronwyn
www.bronwynkidd.com
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