Brad Ogbonna
Who printed it?
I went with Smartpress based in Minnesota (where I’m from) the last 3 years. I was looking for a high quality and affordable printer and most of the NY local options were a bit out of my price range when I was starting out and not exactly patient when it came to figuring out which paper to use and which printers worked best for my colors. I reached out to Smartpress and they were super helpful with sending over examples of papers and being very patient as we went back and forth on proofs.
Who designed it?
My friend Emily Kapsner www.emilykapsner.com and I put it together each year.
Tell me about the images?
I’ve been fortunate to work on a lot of different types of projects ranging from fashion, to editorial, portrait, and some documentary work so I like to include those projects alongside my own personal projects where I am doing tests with people that I meet while street casting and my photo projects on the different destinations I travel to yearly.
How many did you make?
The first year I created the promos I printed around 100 copies, the second year I printed 500, and this year I printed out 1000.
How many times a year do you send out promos?
I only send out promos once a year and will periodically e-mail clients new work that I’ve shot.
Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
Yes definitely! The response I get each year has been phenomenal and my first run of promos was what landed me my first big editorial gigs with the New York Times, Refinery29, and magazines like The Fader and Billboard. From there the ball really started to roll.
Now that I’m on my 3rd promo, I’ve had photo editors tell me that they look forward to receiving them each year and are now collecting them. A lot of friends and fans of photography have also reached out to ask if they can get/purchase copies. I guess it feels like a zine rather than a standardized promo so it has a different feeling to it. I carry a few copies with me on every job to show people I’m going to photograph or a leave behind for editors.
I hope to keep doing one every single year and put out like a 10-year collection or something :)