Category: The Daily Promo

Priscilla Gragg

Who printed it?
I printed the cover myself using my office’s hp desk jet 3755 printer. The images were printed with https://www.artifactuprising.com

Who designed it?
I designed it myself and I was inspired by the French company that makes photo books called Innocence (https://www.innocence-paris.com/fr/). Melissa McGill helped me edit the final selection for printing.

Tell me about the images?
The images are from a trip we took this summer to my home country Brazil. We went to Bahia, a place that I had never been to. We try to go to Brazil once a year and usually we just go to my parent’s home in São Paulo where I grew up. This year I wanted to try something that would be exciting and new for all of us, including my parents… so we all met in Trancoso. I was very excited about the location we were going to and I knew I wanted to photograph a fashion editorial story while there, so I packed a few looks for the girls that would be appealing to fashion magazines. Before Trancoso, we had a quick stop at Salvador to see Pelourinho, a historical town of Brazil. The first day was awful: the girls were super tired from our 30+ hours traveling (we missed a flight and had a few hiccups to get there), they were hot, they didn’t like the food, so it was complaining over complaining for an entire day. At that point, I thought: “there is no way I will get an editorial out of these girls”. Then I had to stop and manage my expectations given the fact that my daughters are not professional models and they just wanted to have fun on their trip too. So I took it easy, and every day for the next 7 days we were there, in the afternoon when the lighting was it’s most beautiful, I would ask my daughter Naya (7) if she would let mama take her photos. Most days she would say yes, some days I would bribe her with ice cream. Bia (4) only did it if there was ice cream involved. It would take us 10-15 minutes max each time. Of course, I took tons of iPhone photos of them during the day, but for this project, I took my Fujifilm X100F that is way lighter than my regular “work” camera to travel with and gives me decent file sizes. Upon my return, I shared the images with Milk Magazine and a fashion editorial was born. They must have really liked it as they published almost 30 images! That is very unlikely for fashion spreads. I was very pleased with the project too.

How many did you make?
I printed 300 copies which is a very small number and it goes by really fast!

How many times a year do you send out promos?
1-2 times per year

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
It is really hard to say because nobody calls you and says: “Hey, I just got your promo, I have a job for you!”. I recently went to Minneapolis with my agent Kate at Apostrophe for a handful of book shows and meetings with prospect and old clients. At a lunch meeting, photographer Jeff Vallee who was also joining us asked an art director what are the promos that usually stands out to her. Her answer was: “The ones that have some type of meaning to it”. That really stuck with me and months later after that trip, when I was trying to decide what to promote, I picked the one that was the closest to my heart. I noticed a more positive reaction from receivers for this promo than my previous one. Last time I sent out 2k posters featuring new images and never once I got an email about it. This time there were emails, texts, tags on Instagram… art directors and photo editors were kind enough to show their excitement and it means the world to me!

Art Streiber

Who printed it?
The piece was digitally printed by DSJ printers in West Los Angeles. DSJ has been family owned and operated since the 1950s and handles all of my promo printing and stationery needs. I cannot say enough great things about their quality and their customer service.

Who designed it?
My Office Manager, Evan Mulling, and I paced the booklet, while its design is taken from booklets we produced in 2017 and 2015 called Gravity and Levity. Those booklets were designed by Edward Leida @eddieleida, a design director and typographer in New York City. Ed chose the typeface and laid out the type for the NOIR booklet as well.

Tell me about the images?
The imagery comes from a portfolio we produced this summer for a special Emmys issue of Vanity Fair and features Emmy nominees who either play “good guys” or “bad guys” on their respective shows. The NOIR “cops and robbers” theme is a direct, quick-read approach to illustrating that delineation.

We were inspired by movie stills from the 1940s and 1950s. Vintage wardrobe was pulled by stylist Jeanne Yang @jeanneyangstyle. Sets were designed and built by Anthony Altomare @photobuffalo. The shoot was creatively produced by Ron Beinner at Vanity Fair @runronrun and executive produced by LA-based producer Liz Lang @lizlangproduction. And… we shot each of the talent individually over a day and a half. Even the group shots were shot as singles and comped together in post by my long time retoucher, the immensely talented Angie Hayes at the Happy Pixel Project @angiemariehayes.

How many did you make?
We printed 350 NOIR booklets and mailed them to entertainment and editorial clients. The booklets are 9×12 and it was difficult finding the perfect envelope to match that size. We reduced our mailing hassle by taking the bulk of the envelopes to Mail and More, our go-to spot for all of our shipping needs.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
We create a booklet like this once a year, or every other year, depending on how much new work we have to show. In addition, we regularly print a variety of 5.5” x 8.5” single image promo cards to include with our thank you notes (that are also sized at 5.5 x 8.5).

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I do. I’ve surveyed a number of clients and it seems to be split down the middle as to how many prefer to receive electronic promos and how many prefer to receive printed promo pieces. With the booklets, their size and weight give them some gravitas that increases the chances that clients will hold onto them or perhaps, display them in their offices. I think it’s important to keep yourself in front of your clients in whatever thoughtful, elegant way you can. Now more than ever, clients have less time to consider our work and they’re inundated with imagery on multiple platforms…so sending a traditional, printed (oversized) piece can be an attention-getter.

Chad Kirkland

Who printed it?
Newspaper Club in the UK.

Who designed it?
Souk Mounsena of The Pursuit Society.

Tell me about the images?
My late father ran an electric sign company, so for as long as I can remember and until he passed when I was 15, I was surrounded by craftsmen of all kinds. I have some really fond memories of working with my dad and my brother in the shop. At first, when I was really young he’d have me sweep the shop for a few bucks, then when we got a little older, we would collect all the scrap metal to take to the recyclers for some spending money. As I grew up, I was given more creative and technical tasks like designing and building electric signs. I remember my dad teaching me how to wire up a sign and connect it to a transformer so he could send me up into tight attics where he couldn’t fit. Because of my background, which I think also led me to pursue a creative career, I also gained a huge appreciation for the art of building things by hand. Whether it was watching my dad paint an intricate sign, weld a massive frame from steel, or watch his neon contractor turn tubes of clear glass into a beautiful, glowing masterpiece with nothing but fire, gases, and a lot of patience, I really developed an intrigue in craftsmanship that will be with me forever. I plan on continuing this series and will likely make more promos from it in the future.

How many did you make?
100

How many times a year do you send out promos?
2, but I’m always trying to increase that number.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
Yeah, I do. You never really know how effective they are but sometimes you get feedback that seems to make all the cost and work worth it. If it lands in the right hands at the right time, it can be very valuable. I also love how it makes me slow down and really think about what I’m shooting and why.

Oriana Koren

Who printed it?
The incredible Anthony Wright. My designer, George McCalman, has been working with Anthony on photographer promos for some time now and ensured Anthony would be the guy to get my colors just right. He absolutely did!

Who designed it?
George McCalman of McCalman Co! We actually met at brunch in San Francisco and immediately fell in love with each other’s work. George mentioned he was open to us collaborating in some way so around February I recognized that my marketing efforts needed to go up a notch and that’s when I reached out to George for ideas on how to make that happen. He immediately told me I should send out a booklet, particularly because, for the last three years I’ve primarily been seen as a food photographer, but I’m not. I have a documentary photography background and I shoot a lot of different subjects, it just happens that food is the subject I feel best allows me to show my strength as an editorial photographer who has the training of a documentary photographer. George really responded to this and asked me to trust him enough to allow him to choose the edit of images. I sent him a folder of 150 shots and dug deep into my archive for those selections. He sent me two edits and I think we swapped out 1-2 images out of what ended up in the 28-page book. He really understood that my work is a little offbeat and a little queer like me and ran with that: making a promotional piece that introduces me as both an artist and a human being. George is an art director with over a decade of experience in the editorial world and an illustrator, so he really understands what it takes to make an impactful promo piece that really allows an artist to shine in their own singular light which made me really excited because this is the artist I want to introduce to potential clients.

Tell me about the images?
I sent George a folder of 150 shots and dug deep into my archive, so there’s a mix of portrait, food still life, travel, and documentary work. There’s a photograph I took at the 10th anniversary of AfroPunk back in 2014 living alongside a Dutch-masters inspired still life for a cannabis magazine I photographed this past spring. There’s food journalism in the city of Charleston, a still life for a ceramicist who makes playful pieces for the kitchen, and a portrait of Boots Riley shot for WIRED. I wanted to demonstrate my nimbleness as a photographer both in subject and technique. The cover image I shot five years ago for Bevel (a black-owned wellness and beauty company based in SF) in Charlotte, NC so I also wanted to show through the images that there are certain stories and places I’ve been interested in exploring via my lens for a long, long time.

How many did you make?
100. I’ve got 25 remaining for winter meetings and portfolio reviews in SF and NYC. I’m looking forward to hand delivering some of them!

How many times a year do you send out promos?
Just about once a year for printed promos. I sent digital promos throughout the year usually in the form of a personalized introduction email with an attachment of work appropriate for the client. I also send out newsletter about 3-4 per year and those have been great for keeping clients aware of my travels, new published work and any personal work I might be doing. Next year I’ve got two printed promos already planned, so I’m excited about sending out more consistently because the response to this one has been really incredible.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
Absolutely. When I first started out, I sent 25 promos out. It was a series of 5 postcards and it was incredibly effective. You were kind enough to feature it on your Instagram and I ended up getting gigs with more than half of the clients I sent it out to that year. This year, I made my promo because I knew I was ready to look for new representation and I had my eye on a few rosters. I knew I needed a really strong print piece if I were going to, at the least, get some instagram follows. My goal was to just get my work in front of some agents so that they would be curious enough to keep an eye on me. My top choice roster, DSREPS, actually offered me a meeting based off of the booklet I sent to Deb and now we’re building a relationship. That doesn’t happen everyday, but I think the booklet was so strong and attention getting because I took the investment really seriously and got the absolute best team for my needs to produce it. I think clients and agents can really tell when you go the extra mile with a promotional piece and it doesn’t have to be gimmick or gift-y. I really believe good work sells itself. I sent this book out to some select travel and hospitality clients as I’ve been enjoying shooting social media ad work for food clients like Tillamook and then to a ton of book publishers as I’m shooting some cookbooks for Ten Speed Press (they got my 5 postcard promo and it got me a meeting with them) next year and really want to get publishers on my radar as someone for them to consider who can shoot still life in studio and on location for food-based travel projects. I’m hoping this promo will conjure up a food-travel based cookbook in the Caribbean next year, specifically in Martinique, Haiti, and/or and St. Lucia. Promos take a while before you see return but when I get an email for that perfect assignment or ad job out of what seems like the clear blue sky, that’s when I’ll know it’s doing the job I hoped it would.

Jørn Tomter

Who printed it?
This issue was printed by Pensord in Wales, UK. For the next one I am looking at a London based printer, known for great quality print. The whole idea of the magazine is to keep things local, so it makes sense to print it closer to home.

Who designed it?
It is designed by Beatriz Coias at Studio Pyramid; a local design studio near my office. I also have a team of journalists for the stories, an editor to sub the text and each issue includes the work of a local illustrator.

Tell me about the images?
All the images are from my local neighbourhood based around Chatsworth Road, which is the high street, with mainly independent shops. In 2010 I returned to London after living in Berlin for two years. My wife and I just had a child and I wasn’t that keen on travelling much to do projects as I wanted to spend time with my son. I could see that the area I’d moved to would probably change a lot as part of the gentrification most big cities go through. I wanted to document this process and at the same time prove to myself that I don’t have to travel far to find good stories and interesting people. I decided early on to make sure that I covered all demographics and not exclude any groups of people; specifically those who grew up here and had deeper roots than middle class people like me arriving with the baristas. I am hoping the pictures can work as a bridge between the different cultures. All the photos in the magazine are of local residents, local businesses or visitors. I have a few different approaches: one set of images are created just by me walking around looking for situations or interesting people to photograph. This also includes the newly added drone photos. Part of my project is to photograph local business owners, so each magazine issue has a series of portraits of shopkeepers that I work more like a portrait commission for a magazine (except it is commissioned by me). I take a lot more portraits than I publish in print but they all go on the dedicated website. I also organise free portrait studios from time to time. These can be in empty shop spaces, at school fairs or anyone who can offer me a space for a day or more. People who turn up get a free portrait and a print to take home. Every mag issue has a selection of these portraits. One of the very interesting results of the portrait studio is that some people have turned up since the first one I did in 2011. It’s great to see how they change and how families grow in numbers. Then I also feature local talents like musicians. Millie Turner who is in the latest issue, is only 18 but has already been recommended by Billboard and Spotify for her music, so it is very fun to see how the people we feature actually make it. I was recently approached by the talented creative director Thomas Ollivier after he saw a previous issue. He had this idea of making a series of portraits of children (from cultural backgrounds unlikely to send people into space) in astronaut outfits. He had the outfits customised and all he needed was models and a photographer. A great thing about doing this project is the access I get to people and spaces. All I had to do was call up a local school I had already worked with and it organised all the children for us to photograph. It was great and the school used it as part of its learning about space that term. Overall, my photos are a document of an area and its people over a long period of time. If I have an idea for a shoot I have the world’s biggest studio and models on my doorstep.

How many did you make?
I print 5000 copies. Most of these are hand-delivered to local households. I think it is really important that the people I photograph feel part of the project and can follow it. Often they recognise each other in the street and new friendships are born. I feel it would be wrong to make something like this and have it for sale in shops that only a fraction of the people I photograph frequent. I keep some copies that I mail out to clients and agencies I think it would be fun to work with.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
I personally send out roughly once a year which is when the magazine is out. My agent, Tea & Water Pictures, do most of the promo for me and do it so much better than I ever could. They have been great and really understand the way I like to work. One of the reasons I started to invest so much time in the magazine was that I felt a bit lost doing all the promo (before I had an agent). At one point I felt I was just recycling old photos onto cards and felt no joy mailing out. It took a lot of time and I started asking myself how I could use my time differently and enjoy it more. I invested that time into making this publication and was hoping the clients would come to me rather me chasing them. So far it has landed me a few good commissions and one client did actually come to me.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I believe print is the best way to look at photos, but it has to be done right and it has to be your way of doing it. Don’t try to replicate. I believe it works better to send out a project rather than a random collection of photos. I think giving the creative person whose attention you want a good story, presented well, means he or she will remember your work. For me it has worked very well doing the magazine.

What do you like about becoming a magazine publisher?
I would never be able to do this without working with a great team. I’ve also learnt new skills through this experience: I commission freelancers, am creative director, sell advertising to cover the print and am a publisher. I am even a newspaper boy. It is great to work in a team like this, since most of my work as a photographer is often quite solitary.

In the beginning I had no intention of creating a publication. The first issue was just meant to be a paper to go with an exhibition I did with some of the portraits early on in the project. Back then it was only 500 copies. It turned out to be so much fun making it. People loved it and it encouraged me to take more photos, so I decided to make another one. Then a third one. With the fourth issue, I stepped up the game and printed 5000 copies. This is when I decided to hand deliver to local households. I have some help doing this but most of them I do myself. I look at it as a free workout session! People ask me how often it comes out, but to be honest, there is no set time. I look at it as when musicians make an album. When it is good enough we are ready to publish. This tends to be about once a year.

Mark Fleming

Who printed it?
My designer and I looked at several local printers. In the end I decided to go with J.S. McCarthy Printers out of Augusta, Maine.

Who designed it?
I worked with a good friend, Danny Gugger, of Deciduous Design. Danny is a hell of a designer and really brought my initial concept to the next level.

Tell me about the images?
The images in the promo are from a story I photographed for Down East Magazine a few years back. The story focused on a wilderness survival camp in Northern Maine that has been experiencing a boom in student enrollment from recent veterans. The writer, Brian Kevin and I stayed at the camp for a week, documenting a class of recent veterans as they learned the skills necessary to survive in the wilderness. It was incredible to see how being in nature and learning these skills helped them readjust to their civilian life.

How many did you make?
I did a small print run off 100 units to target specific clients.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
I typically create one major promo a year and will send out postcard touch base promos 3 times a year.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I do. Our lives are dominated by screen time these days, and I think getting a piece of mail still brings a certain level of curiosity and excitement.

Eric Helgas

Who printed it?
Got print

Who designed it?
I collaborated with my friend who’s a designer, Tessa Law. I really wanted something minimal and clean.

Tell me about the images?
Two of the images are commissioned still lives for editorial clients and one is a personal portrait of a Brooklyn Drag Queen. I always try to include one piece of personal work in my mailings. I think its important to show editors what you’re really interested in making and your point of view.

How many did you make?
I sent the cards to about 250 photo editors and art directors.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
I send out promos 3-4 times a year.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
Printed promos are definitely effective for marketing my work. Most of my first shoots for clients came in due to printed promos. I’ve heard from editors that receiving a printed piece is more impactful than an email, which can be easily ignored or looked over. I always keep my promos really consistent (with three full bleed postcards) and I’m really careful about which images I choose to send together, as they are initially viewed as a group.

George Qua-Enoo

Who printed it?
I wanted to print with magcloud initially but I decided to print it locally at the Printing House (tph.ca) in the end.

Who designed it?
Lyndsey Matoushek in consultation with the lovely folks at Wonderful Machine.

Tell me about the images?
All the images in the promo are from my personal projects/ work. I reached out to Wonderful Machine to assist me with a new print portfolio and a mini promo. They felt that due to the strong body of my travel/documentary work, perhaps a separate promo entirely dedicated to my documentary storytelling will be best so we just focused on Lifestyle and some portraits with this mini promo. The promo is a mini cohesive edit that is a similar concept to my print portfolio in terms of image curation.

How many did you make?
I only printed a small batch of 300 copies for targeted prospects and clients.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
This is the first promo that I’ve ever sent out. I had always relied on face-to-face meetings and phone calls but I felt it was time I switched things up and send out promos. Email campaigns are not as effective as they used to be, in my opinion, especially in Canada with the new CAN-SPAM Legislation.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
The reactions have been positive so far. This is my first printed promo that I’ve been sending out and it’s only been just over two weeks, it’s too soon to tell.

Matt Nager

Who printed it?
This promo was printed through Modern Postcard.

Who designed it?
I did the heavy lifting on the layout, design, and production of the booklet. Of course, I went through several layouts and asked for impressions from friends and colleagues before landing on the final piece.

Tell me about the images?
Throughout the past couple of years, I have been working to build up my advertising portfolio to supplement my editorial work. A big goal has been to produce several test shoots each year with an emphasis on higher production and a more refined look. This project came together after a meeting with a producer and all around great guy Jonathan Biebl and his production company Go Atticus ( https://www.goatticus.com/) based out of LA. I knew I wanted to go to move beyond Colorado in scope and LA offered a larger pool of models to work with. After throwing around concepts and locations we settled on shooting in Venice to create an athletic piece that I could target a very specific list of sports brands and companies. I wanted to keep true to my style while mixing action, fashion, and portraiture. We got a great crew together and had a fantastic shoot.

How many did you make?
I made 250 promos. I sent out 200 and kept 50 for in-person meetings.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
I usually send 1-2 booklets a year and 4-5 single postcards as part of my larger marketing strategy.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I’ve found marketing to be a tough game that requires persistence and a broad approach over a range of mediums. I still send emailers, but focus more on printed promos, individual postcards, group portfolio reviews, all in an attempt to get as many in-person meetings as possible. It’s difficult to pinpoint any single method as the best approach, but I love the process of developing, shooting and making a printed piece, so there is a personal enjoyment that comes from making a printed piece. Certainly, larger promos get more attention than an email and I usually get a handful of responses from each booklet I mail out. I’d say a goal of the printed promo is more to get a foot in the door for in-person meetings that expecting work directly.

Jason Travis

Who printed it?
TranspLAnts was printed by Newspaper Club, based in the UK. (They also conducted an interview with me.)

Who designed it?
I took the photographs and designed the layout. With this particular project, I utilize each subject’s handwriting to give it a personal feel.

Tell me about the images?
In early 2016, I moved from Atlanta to Los Angeles. It was the first time in my 35 years that I’d lived outside of Georgia. I wanted to create a photo series focusing on people I meet – people who have also moved to Los Angeles to start a new chapter of their lives. I wanted to hear about their journeys and experiences. I wanted to learn how living in different places has shaped their existence.

Tell me about the pin and stickers you use instead of business cards?
I went to design school and used to put importance on having a business card. Times change and often social media becomes the calling card. For a photographer it has its pros and cons. Rather than update and print new business cards when I moved, I decided to design some fun enamel pins and stickers. This was a small token I could give to new people I met and especially neighbors. A small way to say hello and show my appreciation for living in a new place. It’s not something that screams my brand name, but more of a memorable item that can be enjoyed, rather than tossed aside. That’s not a new idea, but I wanted to make something I enjoy, and if someone else happens to also then that’s great.

How many promos did you make?
I printed 100. The zine is 16 pages and labeled as Volume One. I’ve shot over 60 people at this point so I definitely plan to make a second volume.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
This is actually the first promo I’ve ever sent out. It’s also available for purchase on my design site. I’m always working on personal projects alongside my commercial work and have another printed newspaper in the works that should be finished this month.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
Tough to say quite yet but so far transpLAnts mini zine has received some attention and appreciation. I love the idea of someone holding a physical representation of my work in addition to viewing it on a screen.

Chuk Nowak

Who printed it?
Paperchase Press in L.A. produced the promo. I’d worked with them in my previous life as a graphic designer. The quality for the value, especially with this type of printed piece was spot on for me.

Who designed it?
I designed it, with input from the eyes and minds a few trusted creatives. I knew I wanted to do an accordion-type card for this area of my work, as the form factor is initially compact. It took some massaging to land the sequencing in an appetizingly logical flow no matter which side you experience first.

Tell me about the images?
Most are images created for clients in the retail and restaurant space. This is my first mailer in this realm, so I wanted the edit to reflect a more polished aesthetic that might appeal to both editorial and commercial interests. One is from a cookbook I collaborated on with a local chef, and two are spec pieces I created for agency gigs that didn’t pan out.

How many did you make?
100, which went out to a targeted list of restaurant groups, food producers and a small number of related publications in my region.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
This is the first printed promo I’ve done for my food work, but plan to do another in the spring.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
Absolutely. A lot of food imagery still ends up in print one way or another, so It’s great for potential clients to see how my work translates. There’s an editorial project already in the works due to the piece, and a few commercial inquiries swirling about. I actually received a phone call from one the recipients just to tell me how “lovely” it is. Whether that matriculates into anything down the road or not, I’m definitely on her radar as a result.

Thompson And Homonnay

Who printed it?
Anthony Wright at AW Litho. This was our first time working with Anthony, and he was an absolute dream to work with. He was so kind and so incredibly easy going, plus he did such a beautiful job. We will undoubtedly be calling on him again to work with us on our next promo.

Who designed it?
George McCalman. Ah-mazing. We feel so very lucky to have been able to collaborate with George on this promo. He is incredibly insightful and so good at what he does. He is the perfect mixture of being very direct and truly supportive in exactly the same moment. We love everything he does and hope to work with him again in the near future.

Tell me about the images?
With this promo, we really wanted to showcase our kids and teens work. The majority of the images are a collection from our personal work. Test shooting has always been one of the most important tools for us because it gives us the freedom to challenge ourselves, push our boundaries and to be fearless of making mistakes. The images we chose for this promo really reflect who we are as a duo, with our aim to create images that emotionally connect people with childhood and adolescent memories and/or the nostalgia of time.

How many did you make?
We did a run of 500 copies.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
Normally we try and send two per year.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
Yes, especially when they lead us to in-person meetings. This is where we feel like the magic happens and we get to shine, where the client gets to know us as a duo, and learns about our process and how we work on set. Promos are also a way to leave a beautiful little piece of us behind.

Allison Michael Orenstein

Who printed it?
Smartpress

Who designed it?
Weston Bingham, an amazing Creative Director I met while shooting multiple assignments for his visionary East Village Boys project. We also worked together for a Knoll campaign. I regularly consult with Nancy Jo Iacoi for image selection. Collaborating and bringing in experts in design and editing are important to my promo process.

Our inspiration for the volumes are catalogs from photography exhibitions.

Tell me about the images?
This second volume 02:Fame focuses on my celebrity work. The majority of photographs were shot for various editorial clients. The different volumes are to showcase my ability to capture real moments with any subject from performers to celebrities to real people.

How many did you make?
600

How many times a year do you send out promos?
This is the 2nd round of promos I’ve sent this year. The first volume 01:Mixtape launched in February. (And 03 is in the making!)

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
Yes definitely. It’s important to promote from every angle. Printed work gives clients the tactile experience of holding a photograph in their hands, turning pages, seeing the images come alive in print. And it’s easy for them to pin up and remember me for the right project!

And…. from 01:Mixtape I signed with my agent Jennifer Hutz. We are launching early September jenniferhutz.com

KC McGinnis

Who printed it?
Smartpress, in Minneapolis.

Who designed it?
Peter Dennen helped me come up with the edit, and Kallen Hawkinson in Portland, Oregon designed the back.

Tell me about the images?
These images are from a range of editorial assignments and personal projects I shot over the last year or so. While I would like for my next promo to be based around a single shoot or story, for this one I wanted to put together something memorable with a consistent style. Spiderman came out of a Comic-Con shoot for a local paper, and the hairdryer guy is from a Christian metal festival I photographed last summer. The TV is from the waiting room of a tiny Carmelite monastery I was photographing here in Iowa, where I’m based.

How many did you make?
100. I sent about 75 to agencies and the rest to current and prospective assignment editors.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
I’d like to be sending out three or four a year, in conjunction with an email newsletter.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I do, but I don’t expect any work to come my way just because I sent a promo. I think print, email, phone calls, and in-person networking are all part of the process.

Keena

Who printed it?
AlphaGraphics in Golden, Colorado printed it. I had the hardest time finding a printer I could trust to get exactly what I was looking for. I’m slightly obsessed with getting the correct paper, the way the ink is absorbed, how the color reads and all of that, so finding a printer that really cared about the details was trickier than I’d thought. Also, the zine has a mix of color and black and white so it was important to find a printer that could keep their black and white images neutral, not skewed cyan or green. I’m glad I only had to go through the printer search once because it’s too much of a rollercoaster to get your hopes up to see your work printed like you imagined it and then have your heart broken over and over.

Who designed it?
I designed it myself. Art buyers get sooo many mailers these days, and they’re all SO good, so it’s definitely a challenge to stay out of the recycling bin, but I love it. It pretty much comes down to “What would I want to keep?”, so that’s what I strive to make. I just imagine a huge pile of mailers on someone’s desk and then figure out how to actually stand out from it. I do zines for all my promos and every one is different, but still the same size, so I dream about people keeping them all on a shelf somewhere. Design can also make or break the photos, so until I meet some rad designers I can trust, I’m still in charge of my own fate. I also love writing out words and drawing so these zines give me the chance to do some of that old-school hands-on work. I still spend hours with a pen and ink, writing words out over and over till they look just right.

Tell me about the images?
I had reached out to a stylist, Taura Deacon, when I was moving near her and we had really wanted to work together, but she was already in the process of moving away to Phoenix. So we stayed in touch and I ended up flying down to Arizona a few months later where her and her husband picked me up at the airport before midnight on Friday, we met for the first time, hung out, produced and shot all Saturday until midnight, and then I flew out at 5 am on Sunday morning. The whole idea behind this zine was exercising “teenage logic”. As a teenager, I remember so many ideas popping up into my head and then just rounding up my friends to go do them! Back then no one asked if it was a good idea, if it was cool, if it was safe, or if there were consequences, but we knew it would be FUN. I had put together a shot list and a location wish list and Taura street cast the people and found two dream locations- one for the day shots and a second with both a pool for skating AND a second pool for swimming for the night shots. The images are supposed to be very experiential feeling, like the viewer is at the party with their friends, not just watching it. Of course, it was a produced party, but I like to think that everyone partied as they normally would, and I was able to find the moments in there. The dirtbike shot has been a dream shot for a few years now so I’m beyond psyched to see it come to fruition. I also shot a lot of film and underwater housing for this, which is also a fun part of promos made from personal work. You get to bring out all the toys and be as creative as ever.

How many did you make?
This zine was a run of 350 total. A limited run of 200 to send out to specific people I’ve worked with or want to work with, and then I kept 150 for meetings and my library at the studio. They’ll all find a home eventually, but I believe in “less is more” for promos. I think each mailer should be intentional as to whose hands it ends up in.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
When work and life are in balance, I try to do two zines per year, but on busier years I’ll just do one because they definitely take a lot of time to plan, execute, design, print, and mail.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I’m never positive on how effective they are, but I think that if I get one good job out of them, then at least I didn’t lose money on it. Plus art buyers get so many emails that I think printed pieces are something special if you put the time into them. Sometimes printed promos seem like screaming in the dark, but it seems common to go into meetings and have people tell me they still have my past zines, so that keeps me believing in them. These days it’s also important to show agencies that you’re creative beyond just using a camera, and printed promos are great for that because you have to inject some of your personality into it. I’m always super inspired when I see other photographer’s killer promos so I constantly feel the burn to try to make something rad as well.

All business numbers and returns aside, mailers are super important for me to get out for me to feel creatively balanced. I’ve always loved photo zines and photo books since I was a kid, so now I have the photos to really fill out a zine and the resources to get them printed exactly how I would want to, how could I not? We’re living in such a digital world now and I grew up on analog when everything was handmade and hand printed, so it’s healthy for my creative brain to get my photos off the screen and into someone’s hands. If the internet died tomorrow, I’d still have zines out there with my photos in them, and for some reason, that feels comforting. I always hope that the types of agencies and producers that I’d want to work with still appreciate the process and the tactile feel of getting a zine on their desk, the weight of the paper, and the story behind it. If I was only shooting for money and never for fun, I would definitely burn out on photography as a career. Seeing people’s reactions to the zine always makes it worth to me and having a promo with a good story behind it also sparks some awesome conversations when doing meetings! I’ve already got the next two zines in the design phase and I never want to be predictable as a photographer, so they’re all different subject matter, but shot and designed to have my look to them. It’s a never-ending cycle of dreaming and making but it keeps me so excited about shooting and creating that I would never stop doing promos.

Martin Westlake

Who printed it?
It was printed by Harapan Prima printers ( http://www.harapanprima.com/ ) here in Jakarta where I’m based. We did some test prints on a newsprint style paper but in the end, decided on a better quality 70 gsm Lux cream book paper.

Who designed it?
The promo was designed in Jakarta by artnivora (http://www.artnivora.net/ ). I’m friends with their owner/creative director, and have worked with them on commercial projects in the past and really like their different approach to design and their use of photography.

Tell me about the images?
The images are from 2 commercial shoots from 2015 and 2016 at Katamama, an all-suites boutique hotel located in Seminyak, South Bali. The photos were used by the client for their website and main marketing collateral. The 1st shoot was pre-opening and focussed on the building exteriors/architecture, pool, and some interiors. Once the hotel had opened we returned to complete a full shoot of all the room categories and any areas that had been missed previously. The creative team from the owning company gave me the freedom to shoot in my own style which was a refreshing change from the strict corporate guidelines that I’m used to on most hotel + resort shoots. I love the contemporary Indonesian architecture and interiors of this property, it was a dream shoot for me and is a perfect showcase for my hotel photography.

How many did you make?
The print run was 250 copies. The printer custom made 150 envelopes + packaging for mailing and the remaining 100 I have for leave-behinds.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
I’ve been a bit remiss with promos in recent years. In the past, I would send out cards 2-3 times a year to editorial and hotel clients, locally and overseas. More recently I’ve only produced Christmas cards with a photo from the previous year’s best work, or with an image from my travel archive. I’m a huge fan of print and had been playing around for a while with ideas for a larger format ‘zine’ to promote my hotel photography. The plan now is to try to produce a similar type/sized promo annually.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
It’s difficult to tell the effectiveness of printed promos here in SE Asia as most of my commissions from Asian clients have been through ‘word of mouth’. I’m not sure too that nowadays print media is particularly appreciated here in Indonesia, I’ve been to many meetings and given out promo cards, which have then been returned to me. Having said that the feedback from this promo has been extremely positive particularly from architects and interior designers.

Jace Lumley

Who printed it?
The zine was printed by Mixam. I tried a couple of different printers and found Mixam’s quality and price hard to beat.

Who designed it?
I designed it myself. I design all my promos myself. It might be one of my favorite processes outside of photographing.

Tell me about the images?
I made the images for Lululemon’s 2016 Fall/Winter lookbook. We spent three days location scouting and another four days shooting at Trollstigen and inside the city of Oslo, Norway. It was probably one of the best personal and professional experiences I’ve had to date. The team I worked with was an incredibly talented bunch.

How many did you make?
I made a run of 10 to send out to some focused editors I had in mind.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
I can’t say I have a set amount per year. If I am feeling stumped creatively, I like to turn to my work to create products like this.

It feeds my creativity and gives me an opportunity to reach out to new and sometimes the same editors I’d love to work with going forward.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
As a former photo editor, I always loved receiving physical promos from photographers. There’s something about holding a promo or any product for that matter, that shows workmanship or lack thereof.

The edits made, the design work, the information gathered, the opportunity to show a point of view, and the trips to the post office; it’s a beautiful process for young photographers like myself.

Rob Fiocca

Who printed it?
CJ Graphics, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Who designed it?
My team and I designed the piece together, with some help from CJ Graphics.

Tell me about the images?
The images are a collection of creatives and commissioned work over the last couple of years with a group of talented individuals. Creative collaborations with colleagues, in my opinion, always produce some of my best work.

The creative exploration on set these days is lacking. All too often the creative is already established long before scheduled shoot days. Spontaneity and happy accidents are looked upon as a negative rather than a positive in the production-heavy world we operate in today.

How many did you make?
1000 books

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
We advertise regularly in AT Edge, Workbook, keeping an Instagram presence, Facebook, etc. My Reps also advertise in a similar way, fortunately through the years because of promotion or not we have been a busy studio.

I try every couple of years to produce pieces like this, but everyday work gets the better of us. Promos effective? I certainly hope so. Digital promos are important but disposable, a unique printed piece could live for a long time.