My clients are Fortune 500 and run the gamut from awesome to terrible. 60% of my income is commercial and 40% fine art. I have zero employees and 12k in overhead. My profit margin is 65%. Around 25% of my work is video.
I shoot 50 days a year but am working 365 on everything else.
An average shoot day is 10 hours, sometimes more. I work on a day rate plus use model. Most use is between 2 and 5 years in North America or globally. I usually have a producer handle all expenses, and I bill back for lighting equipment and other tools the production uses. I own all my own gear, so this is a profit center for me.
My best shoot was a one-day pre-light and one-day shoot for a global consumer brand, where I licensed 10 images for two years of global use and got paid a 25k day rate and another 5k per image, so 75k total, and then I made 10k on grip lighting camera and digital.
My worst shoot was a 14-hour day for a major brand where I was paid $7500 for filming and directing a tv commercial for broadcast. I was hired as the DP, and the “agency was going to direct,” except they were clueless, and I ended up directing, so I basically got taken advantage of by an agency.
Photographers need to charge more and expect more, and do the right thing. Also, copyright your images and hold agencies accountable when they steal them and use in decks without your permission.
Ed Note:
I would love to have more women participating in this column and more niches within the industry (newspaper, event, senior portrait, wedding, etc.). Email me: rob@aphotoeditor.com
I will send you a link to a google form that will ensure your anonymity.
The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own. I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before. In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find. Please DO NOT send me your work. I do not take submissions.
Everyone in our industry talks about how photographers need to shoot personal work. We’ve all heard it, and I, like so many busy photographers, always pushed that stuff aside. Why would I shoot unpaid work when I could be shooting paid projects? Then Makers came along and changed all of that.
Makers is a series of images that focuses on the human experience of making – it’s about the patina and scars on experienced tools and experienced hands, finely tuned workshops perfected over thousands of hours of iteration, and individuals that dedicate their lives to creating. Makersis an answer to the numbness of consumerism based in the mass-produced goods that we’ve become so accustomed to.
I’ve always had a burning need to create things, anything – I’m obsessed with the act of making and the attitude it takes to create something from nothing, to create a tiny piece of order from the chaos. I love the spirit of creation, regardless of what the end result is. Which is where Makers was born.
I’ve been actively shooting Makers for nearly 2 years now, and it has completely changed my career. The project has grown from a couple of creative sessions with artisans in my small town, to a significant body of work that has opened doors to the biggest paid projects I’ve ever worked on. It has also shown me this warm and inspiring community of wildly interesting Makers in the Vancouver area and beyond. I’m so thankful for the ways that this project has affected my work and my life.
I hope you enjoy these images as much as I’ve enjoyed making them.
APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s. After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999. She has a Twitter feed with helpful marketing information because she believes that marketing should be driven by brand and not by specialty. Follow her at @SuzanneSease. Instagram
Success is more than a matter of your talent. It’s also a matter of doing a better job presenting it. And that is what I do with decades of agency and in-house experience.
I shoot photo and video Commercial Beauty and Lifestyle predominantly and can shoot still life as well. In Boston, you gotta be good at a lot to survive. I started as a retoucher 22 years ago and have been shooting for 19 years. I have a rep, and most of my income comes from lifestyle work. My video work is about half my income.
I have no employees and share a studio with others to help with overhead which averages $60k. My profit margin is usually a third of revenue.
I work nonstop, and my clients are primarily female. The younger they are, the less budget they seem to have.
It’s been about 7 years where my gross Income averaged 200k, but my bills keep getting higher. And the budgets are getting lower. I normally divvy up my video post work to other creatives, but sometimes I do it just to put more money in my pocket that month to survive.
I have recently lost 2 bread and butter clients—one to in-house hiring, and the other folded.
One-day shoots average about $25K WITHOUT models, catering, props, backgrounds, etc.
My Shoot days average $3500 – $5000 day rate. Plus $5000 – $10000 in licensing fees, usually 1-3 years but no broadcast. I also do my own retouching, which I usually just give a per-image rate—those average $150-$500 per image, depending on how complex it is. I do give breaks if it is multiple days on my fee. I give my rep a quarter of my day rate and usage fee.
My best-paying job, I never knew the overall budget. But I got a buyout on a 4-day job for about 140 assets for 60k
The one that stings the most was a 4-day $270k job That I made $25k in the end. I was supposed to make about $50k on it with retouching. The producer asked me if they could cut my rate because they were way over budget. I wish I had slept on it and thought hard about it. I didn’t have a rep at the time, and instead, I immediately answered you can take my retouching fees out of it and in the end made half of what I should’ve made on an already underpaid rate. The producer even asked me to cut my rate a second time, but I gave him a hard no.
I think people just need to talk more. I have always been honest with my friends and tried to help them and vice versa. The industry doesn’t need to be cutthroat. We should all help each other. I also think people need to assist and find a mentor. Seems like people these days just get thrown into it from Instagram and don’t know what’s right or wrong. Find someone in the field for more than 15 years to help guide you. I am almost 20 years into this, and I am still learning about business and craft.
I am fortunate to describe my friendship with Walter Smith as timeless. We worked together at Philadelphia Magazine, my first job, decades ago. I remember Walter coming into the office, a camera slung around his shoulder, with a box full of contact sheets for us to loupe. He was hustling on “front-of-the-book” assignments, perfect for his photojournalistic eye. Years pass, conversations get deeper and image making evolves. We connected in 2015 about his self published promo, recently we caught up about his experiments with AI.
Heidi: How long have you been making images via AI? Walter: I really only started playing around with the technology and ChatGPT about a month ago. It’s a rabbit hole and you can most definitely make some great things from it.
How many hours and prompts went into the older fella portrait? Those portraits were made, kid you not, in about 15 minutes. For me, it’s about the prompts you use and how the technology interprets them. I wanted to make something that looked like something I would actually take. I did not add in my photographs to build them, all were created from the prompts in Midjourney.
Did you draw from your own archive of portraits for this? All my ideas around AI come from my past and what my thinking is in the present. I never created “fantasy” images. I was never that person. There always has to be some type of connection for me. I love what some folks are doing around the otherworldly images they’re creating. It’s just not where my head is.
What type of camera look and feel were you trying to create with this portrait? I took a portrait of a woman named Jennifer over 20 years ago on polaroid 665. It’s beautiful and lives in the files somewhere. When I created that image I thought of some of her features and characteristics and used them as prompts along with camera type…lens…etc. The produced image was great but too clean so into photoshop I went to add grain and lens corrections. Again that was a 15 minute endeavor. I was getting messages on Linkedin from folks asking about the photograph. Is it a photograph? Where did I meet her…agency name…etc. The photograph of the old man, a friend asked if the one on the left was an old photograph of mine. There is the conflict for me. I like capturing stories, real stories from real people. Things that make you feel a little something. I did not set out to fool anyone and it brings me to the question of honesty and authenticity. We live so close to dishonesty on a daily basis with social media, not all but a great deal is curated to show us the best of something.
Are you selling cameras in the hopes of focusing on this genre? I’m never selling my film cameras. That was more of a joke between a few of us. I dropped film off yesterday…me and all the hipsters from Brooklyn.
How would you bill for one of these and have you done any commissioned work? Very good question and I do not have an answer yet. I spoke with a couple clients that are already over AI.
What is the current language around crediting AI work, to call it a photograph would be a disservice. I would think it’s in the photo illustration realm.
Fashion treatment 1
Fashion treatment 2
All I had to do was remove a 6th finger for this AI image
Where do you see AI generated images having a place in the industry?
In a treatment or a brief, sure, it would work perfectly to show clients what I want something to look like. It went into photoshop for a little image correction to get it close to something.
Photographic self portrait, my true self and original smile
AI self portrait 1
AI self portrait 2
Have you done a self portrait? I did a mash-up of a portrait of myself and a portrait of Salvador Dali from Irving Penn. It looked very little like a Penn portrait but I see part of my face in the results.
In making these test images how would you describe the moments of making that AI image vs moments making a photograph developed in a human exchange? Doing an AI portrait takes up a different type of brain space. So much of my work is about human interactions: the conversations in the room, how you feel being with another person, their energy, and honesty. AI does not hold any of that for me. Of course, it’s creative and the stuff people are doing is beautiful and special but what does their breathing sound like? How do they carry themselves in a room? These AI figures, they’re fun to create and I certainly see their value but I can’t touch them, I can’t trust them. I know it sounds crazy but the more I see of it the more I just want to keep having conversations with real people about real things.
Are you drifting back to a human experience of an interaction, and those are creating the prompts? I try to keep the descriptions in the prompts to very real-life things. Specific camera and lenses, tone and color, feelings, ethnicity and expression. It’s wild that these images come back to me with some of those elements included. Do I get more connected to the “subjects.” Nope. I think I can see these AI figures in treatments to sell an idea. Suppose there was a project in Ethiopia that I was pitching to a client and they needed visuals to get the idea across. I can spend a couple of hours creating visuals ….people…landscapes…feelings and then, hopefully, get them to send me there to create the actual work. I can also see a client with a very tight budget who just needs the AI work over actual photography. It’s a slippery slope.
A male Fashion and Lifestyle Photographer based in Milan, Italy, with 20 years of experience.
100k pre covid
130k during covid
I’m repped by a small agency and have been full time for 13 years.
During covid Italian companies needed to remain local rather than shooting in NY or London which increased sales by 30%.
I shoot a lot of ecom at 350-500 per day, then mid tier social media work which goes for 1500-3000 a day plus usage which is usually about 100% of the day fee for 1 year.
I get about 3 large agency gigs a year the last of which was a cellphone company doing a single city ooh campaign and that was 5000 plus 3000 usage for the one city.
I have a studio which I rent out to cover its costs but apart from that and a few leasing deals for cameras and computers, I have no other fixed costs… I charge rental for all my personal gear and will often retouch editorial or small commercial jobs myself.
Since December 2022 work has dropped sharply due to markets opening up again and a deep sense of instability due to inflation and war and whatnot… everybody in Milan is in a holding pattern except for the very big boys or the very cheap boys
I do video but it’s more of an extra, I would say less than 10 percent of my income but it’s a big growth market that if I got my finger out my bum and did some proper tests i could probably increase that. The big issue is that volume clients like ecom take up so much time when things are cooking that working on new business becomes difficult. Photographers aren’t supposed to work every day… hahahahah.
The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own. I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before. In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find. Please DO NOT send me your work. I do not take submissions.
No one can forget the images of the senseless and heartless murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, and many are also aware that only a few months earlier on Feb 23rd Amaud Arbery was also murdered.
It was Amaud’s murder that was very personal and the genesis of this project. He was chased down and hunted while jogging in a neighborhood in Georgia.
When watching the footage on the news, my son walked in and before I could turn it off, he saw the story and began asking questions.
Besides the expected, “why did they do that to him” he also asked the more jarring, “is that going to happen to you dad”?
I wasn’t even thinking about myself, but I stopped for a minute and struggled to say, “no that wouldn’t be me” to try to reassure him but immediately started thinking – it could have been me.
Any of these murders could have been any of us black men. Across all walks of life, from boys to men we are targeted. And whether we are sleeping, walking, running, driving, putting our hands up, putting our hands behind our backs, or riding our bikes, we are targeted.
The vilification of the victims is an age-old tactic to dehumanize them and to in some ways justify their murders.
But I reject that. I believe that all these unarmed men deserved to live.
So, my objectives with this personal project are simple:
To shine as much light on the issue and to “speak their names” so they aren’t forgotten.
Some of the names will be known but many others most people won’t be familiar with, so we speak their names to honor them and remember them.
And every black man in America realizes: It Could Have Been Me.
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Images from the ongoing series: “It Could Have Been Me” By Damien Carter,
(@Dcarterphotography) a portrait and lifestyle photographer out of the Washington DC area.
Note: on the back of each card that had a victim’s name on front, was the news story about the actual killing and the men read those while I captured their raw reactions and emotions.
APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s. After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999. She has a Twitter feed with helpful marketing information because she believes that marketing should be driven by brand and not by specialty. Follow her at @SuzanneSease. Instagram
Success is more than a matter of your talent. It’s also a matter of doing a better job presenting it. And that is what I do with decades of agency and in-house experience.
Concept: Multi-day photo shoot of food still life, and chefs/talent portraiture
Licensing: Unlimited use (excluding Broadcast) of up to 20 images for 10 years from the first use
Photographer: Food/Drink Still Life, and Portraiture specialist
Agency: Medium-size, full service
Client: High-end restaurant within a major metropolitan city
Summary
I recently helped a photographer build an estimate and negotiate a project for a high-end restaurant client. The creative brief and subsequent conversations described a multi-day production featuring styled food/drinks and studio portraiture of chefs and patrons. The final use of the photography would be client web, local OOH placements, and web/social advertising.
While reviewing the initial shot list and scope of the project with the agency, the photographer estimated this would need to be accomplished over 4 shoot days, with a tech/scout day prior to visiting the locations. We discussed this approach with the agency and client, and after review, they asked that we keep this production to a three-day shoot. In order to hit the entire shot list, we created a plan for each shoot day, with one of the days needing overtime to accomplish the project.
As our client would be handling various items, I added a note of the Client Provisions to describe precisely what the client was to provide. In this case, they would handle all location(s), location coordination, all casting and people to be photographed, all food/drink to be photographed and food/drink styling, and client-specific wardrobe.
Take a look at the estimate below:
Fees
I put the fees at $26,000 for the three-day shoot, including unlimited use of up to 20 images for 10 years. I came to this fee by discussing the project with the photographer and learning that they had previously worked with this client. Their previous projects had been billed at a $2,000/day fee plus $200/image for web collateral use. Originally I assumed a $1,800/per image fee but reduced this to ~$1,000/per image based on the number of images and our estimate of the client’s total budget. The combined Creative/Licensing fees included $2,000/day for the photographer, plus $20,000 for the 20 image use. I added $1,100/day for the photographer tech/scout day and anticipated 2 hours of overtime at $375/hr. We added a description within Licensing Options for additional still images to be included for $2,200 per image, as well as the option to extend the use of the 20 images in perpetuity for an additional $21,000.
Crew
We added a first assistant at $550/day to help with lighting and camera equipment management, and to attend the tech scout day to familiarize themselves with the location needs and help advise on lighting equipment. A second assistant was added to the project at $400/day and a digital tech was hired to manage the files and display the content to the agency and client as it was being captured. We added a Producer and anticipated they would need 11 days of work, a production assistant for the 3 shoot days, as well as a prep day. As a final consideration, we added two hours of anticipated OT for each of these roles at 1.5x their hourly rate based on a 10-hour day. These fees were consistent with appropriate rates in this city.
Equipment
We included $3,600 for camera, lighting, and grip rentals. The photographer brought their own cameras, and lenses, and intended to rent some supplemental lighting and grip from a local rental house and a few specific specialty items were purchased as well. We added $750 per shoot day for the digital tech workstation rental to consist of a laptop, 4 external monitors, a cart, cables, etc. As we expected a large client presence on set, we planned for additional monitors to set up a viewing area for the client away from the set. We also included $480 for 3x 1TB hard drives, and $3,300 for production supplies like tables & chairs rental, styling racks, production book printing, etc.
Styling Crew
As we planned to have one day of portrait photography, we added a hair/makeup stylist for $900/day, as well as an assistant. Because the portraits would highlight people’s hands, we added a nail artist/stylist at $1,200/day. A wardrobe stylist was hired along with an assistant to dress our five hired talent and help prep the chefs/staff. We anticipated wardrobe at $2,000 assuming $400 per outfit for our five talent. We added a prop stylist at $1,000/day for all three shoot days, plus two shopping/prep/returns days. We anticipated props might cost $2,300 but added a TBD here pending final creative needs. As we did with the other roles, we added two hours of anticipated OT for each of these roles at 1.5x their hourly rate based on a 10-hour day.
Covid Safety
Since we would be photographing indoors within client-owned spaces, we required all on set to be fully vaccinated with proof of a negative PCR test within 24hrs of their first day on set. We added $200 per person for these test costs and/or a stipend to all. We also added $400 for PPE and necessary healthcare supplies.
Meals
We included $3,055 for meals and craft services to cover the 21 people to be on set over the 3 days, as well as $250 for the scout day meals/crafty.
Miscellaneous
As we would need to pay for garage parking for all attendees at each of our locations, and added $3,200 for the anticipated parking, mileage/taxis, as well as additional meals. Our final estimate for insurance coverage was $1,500 for the project.
Post Production
We added $1,000 for the photographer to perform an initial edit of all the content and delivery to client for review and included retouching for up to 20 images at $150/hr.
Results
The photographer was awarded the project, and the work is currently a large part of the client campaign currently running. The photographer even informed me that they recently met with the client and were told the campaign has increased their web traffic and look forward to another shoot in early 2023!
Photographer Rep Heather Elder has a post up on AI in photography from a reps point of view:
“Yes, AI is terrifying. Yes, it is ok to be afraid. And yes, it is changing our industry. But it is here; so you should not ignore it and hope it goes away. Now is the time to educate yourself. Whether you choose to sell against it or advocate for it (or both), you will need to understand it because the person bidding alongside you and the creative you want to work with most certainly will. ”
“Craft will see a resurgence. Just like any artistic endeavor you need to be talented. The best work will always rise to the top and this is because the best photographers understand all that is required to create a truly compelling photograph.
The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own. I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before. In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find. Please DO NOT send me your work. I do not take submissions.
After attending The International Center of Photography, I assisted several photographers and then went out on my own in 2004. Times got tough in 2008 and I took whatever jobs I could get, happily. I was making a living as a professional photographer, but I was shooting food, catalog jewelry and architecture- not very well by the way. I was uninspired by the direction my career was taking me and it became apparent I needed show clients what I wanted to be hired for.
In 2012, I saw a local news story about the “National Beard and Mustache Championships” having just taken place down the street from my studio in Las Vegas. I reached out to the producer of the event who invited me to join them for the competition in New Orleans the following year. In late 2013, after months of testing lighting styles in anticipation, I flew down there with an assistant and all of the gear we could carry on the plane. All in, it cost right around $3000 to travel down and do the shoot.
The result of the project was a body of work that I loved making and I now had international exposure after the gallery got shared and went viral online to the tune of 1.2 million impressions in the first week and over 2 million in the first month. I immediately sent out a calendar, email promo and then a printed tri-fold promo to capitalize on the attention. Several advertising agencies took notice, and the resulting shoots and global exposure made the initial investment of $3000 money well spent.
I just shot the National Beard and Mustache Championships for the 10th year in 2022. Each time I have tried to evolve the project with subtle lighting and background changes to make them feel a little different. I’m planning on shooting an international competition to round out the project before self-publishing a coffee table book, that I’ll then send out to ad agencies as a promotional piece. I have made quite a few friends photographing the world of professional bearding and don’t have any plans of stopping. It’s just too fun.
APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s. After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999. She has a Twitter feed with helpful marketing information because she believes that marketing should be driven by brand and not by specialty. Follow her at @SuzanneSease. Instagram
Success is more than a matter of your talent. It’s also a matter of doing a better job presenting it. And that is what I do with decades of agency and in-house experience.
Massachusetts-based fashion and Lifestyle photographer (NYC-based rep) with occasional ad agency gigs working professionally for 10 years.
Pre Covid: $180k taxable income
Last couple of years: $80k
2023 is starting off well. January billing was $37,500 from 6 shoots and only $3k in expenses.
My best-paying job was working with an ad agency for an eyewear brand. Global usage for 2 years, 5 days of shooting which paid $76k. I shot for that client for years, and every 2 years, they would re-up a lot of the usage.
Average fashion shoot: $4,500/day 1yr term (they change the collection every 6 months)
Average lifestyle shoot: $4,500/day +10k usage.
Ad agency jobs: Last year, my best one was 1 day, 15k for an OOH campaign in 3 cities for an energy company. The worst was $1k to shoot stills on a TV commercial shoot.
No employees… just freelance assistants
I’m all about working with any budget because, in my experience, small gigs have led to big ones either directly or through word of mouth or contacts made. The agency that gave me the 1-day 15k job this past fall is the same one I shot a day for 1k and have a 1-day 5.5k gig coming up.
Photography Director: Andy Greenarce
Photographer: Kari Medig
Kari Medig has a deep appreciation of landscapes and film: moving through them and being still within them. Snow and photography are familiar friends to the British Columbia local. He grew up in the boreal forest of northern BC where his dad converted a bathroom into a darkroom. This slow practice informs his current body of work and love of film. He sees the quiet impact skiing has on people and culture around the world finding joy and quirkiness in the simplicity of sliding down snow or otherwise. I caught up with Telegraph’s Photography Director Andy Greenacre and Kari about his long term personal project, 1000 Words for Snow.
Heidi: Did you know about Kari’s ski work prior to this pitch?
Andy: Kari Medig first came to my attention back in 2014. I don’t remember if he approached the magazine first or us him, but we ran a portfolio of his quirky ski pictures in the magazine in January 2015.
How did this project come about?
We’ve stayed in touch over the years (I’m a keen skier too) and then he pitched this story to me last October. He was going to be in the UK for a short period of time, and would the magazine be interested in a photo essay on dry slope skiing in the UK? The way in for the piece was off the back of British slalom skier Dave Ryding who won at Kitzbuhlin January 2022. Quite an achievement for a skier who started out on brutal dry slopes, in a country with no actual downhill skiing at all (not counting Scotland!)
Despite having snow parks for Brits, what about the work connected for you?
This immediately resonated with me, as someone who endured the ‘delights’ of dry slope skiing in my youth. Bleak, soulless places, guaranteed to leave your body feeling like it’s been dragged over a bed of nails, I knew Kari could produce a memorable set of photographs that wouldbring a wry smile to our readers’ faces. I pitched his proposal at our weekly features meeting and the magazine editor was thankfully straight on board. I provided Kari with consent forms and away he went to shoot at various different slopes. I couldn’t have been happier with the edit he subsequently sent me, a selection of which ran as per the 3 spreads.
Yes we have indoor snow parks now that mimic snow in a way that dry slopes could never do. But for generations of Brits who first learnt to ski on carpet and bristle, and those still enduring them now, Kari’s photographs are evocative of this strange and wonderful facet of British sporting life.
APRIL 2014 The upper level of the Borovets ski station, Bulgaria during the final weekend of operation for the season.MARCH 2012 The base of the ski station at Solang Nala, Himachal Pradesh, India.MARCH 2012 A young skier from Sissu village in the Lahaul Valley in Himachal Pradesh province, India poses with his family’s livestock.JANUARY 2007 A old Kashmiri ski guide poses with his old pair of skis in Gulmarg, Kashmir.MARCH 2014 A man walks with his horse on the road leading to Oukaïmeden ski station in Morocco.
1000 Words for Snow
Heidi: How has he pandemic impacted your project as a creative or how did staying close to home inform your eye?
Kari: The pandemic was definitely rough for this project. Almost immediately, several important trips were cancelled. My usual approach was to work with writers on a ski/travel assignment and then add a few days to make images for the project. Almost all of the images were made that way. But during the pandemic’s early days I had to stay closer to home.
I spent a lot of time in the parking lot at my local ski hill (Whitewater Resort here in Nelson) where people were having picnics and BBQs on their tailgates. This was a fun way to keep progressing on the project. (SKI magazine did a story about this). In the summer of 2021 I managed to make it to southern Africa for Outside Magazine to cover the ski culture of Lesotho. It wasn’t easy with the pandemic still impacting lives, but I was able to do it in a way that kept everyone safe. Since then things have opened up and I am back on the road.
You’ve been doing this project since 2007, 15 years later, did you ever think this would become a commentary on climate change? Great question. I’ve been working on it indirectly since my first ski assignment in Kashmir in 2007. It was only about seven years ago that I realized it was actually a cohesive body of work – this motivated me to be more purposeful with my shooting, specifically for this project.
Many of the places I’m drawn to have a tenuous relationship with snow. They’re often smaller, low elevation, or lesser known ski locations where I know I’m more likely to encounter something interesting or bizarre. For example, in Lesotho the ski hill is almost entirely made from artificial snow produced during the sub-zero temperatures at night. It’s a very unlikely place for a ski hill, one that is created largely by human intervention. One picture I was after was of the stark strip of snow against an arid rocky landscape. There was something symbolic and cautionary here considering our current climate trajectory.
I know your hope is to make this into a book, will you self publish? Yes, I ultimately see this project landing in book format. I like the idea of people taking time with the photos, flipping through pages in a backcountry lodge or wherever the book finds a home. I think the images and subject straddle both the art and trade spaces, and I currently have an interested publisher. I’m working through a few final locations and hope it will be available within a few years.
How will you structure the edit? Will you structure the sequence to an Inuit poem, a time frame, location? Such an important question, and one that I am not clear on just yet. I am currently still in the image-making process and am working with a very rough edit. I have turned all of the images into 4×4 prints and move them around on the blank wall of my office. I’m actually just back from a book sequencing workshop in Venice with photographer Sabiha Çimen. I deeply admire her work, especially her recently published book Hafiz which received much acclaim. It was incredibly helpful to have her go through my images and make an edit, especially since she has no connection to the ski world. Such a reassuring process. It affirmed I was on the right track and will help inform my image-making process going forward.
Tell me about your promo.
I used Paper Chase Press for these promos; they are a community-driven, environmentally conscious printing press based in LA. I had a lot of back and forth with Cole, and his knowledge and patience made a usually frustrating process seamless and rather exciting.
I designed these myself; I always laugh a bit at the overexertion of wanting to be found. I think it looks rather funny to list websites, email addresses, and Instagram handles, as they often are different combinations of my name: www.paulyem.com, info@paulyem.com, @paulyem, etc. etc., so I went a super minimalist route. I feel strongly about conveying a connection through my portraiture, so I didn’t want there to be much other than the imagery I’m passionate about. I trust that if the work resonates with who I am targeting, they’ll have no problem finding me through the one point of contact.
These images are a somewhat disjointed culmination of an exploration over the past 5ish years in finding my voice as an artist. I moved to NYC in 2017 to pursue a career as a photographer, and as many of us have come to find, being an artist isn’t exactly the easiest way to make a living. Through assisting other photographers, I started to identify the different tiers of what being a professional photographer could look like. I became very passionate about staying connected to my roots as a fine artist and started visualizing my identity being intertwined with my approach to photography as a career. I dreamed of the possibility of being hired for my voice, and I knew the more honest I was with what was bubbling up from my soul, the more compelling my images would be. Staying true to that voice has seemed at times ill-advised, as I never positioned myself as an attractive option for the low-hanging fruit, the e-comm jobs, the sort of mindless application of being a just technician. My goal was to be hired because I was Paul Yem not because I could own and operate specialized tools. More of this work can be found here https://www.booooooom.com/2021/04/15/fragments-by-photographer-paul-yem/
I printed 200 of these postcards, Paper Chase had a nice option where you can submit a handful of images per order, I thought it would be nice to send people a little stack of 5 through the mail or to have a variety of images in my pelican when I’m on set. They sort of act as free prints for me to give out.
Unfortunately, from what I’ve gathered through taking meetings with various photo editors, the printed matter is becoming a bit obsolete. I’ve found that our friends in the editorial world don’t often have the personalized desk space they once had, and the collecting of promos has become a bit cumbersome. I’d like to get into a better rhythm of printing things; I think it’s important for us to think about our work existing in the physical form as it gives the images more validity in my mind. I’ve found myself more in the habit of making PDFs; I’m on a much better consistency with reaching out through cold emails and to contacts I’ve made with a nicely designed PDF. It’s something that is minimally invasive and easily forwardable to other editors, and if I’m able to get a face-to-face meeting that’s where I’ll give out my printed promos. I’d say I’d send those emails once every 3 months. I’ve found following up after about a week of the initial email is the most successful in getting a response. Just make work and put it out in the world, and nothing bad can come of it (and emails are a lot cheaper).
I think what this industry lacks the most is honesty. Honesty in what we want to make, in what we want to be hired for, in how we truly want to convey a message through imagery. We are held so tightly by the anxiety of trying to make ends meet that we lose our unique voice. The beauty in art is being unique, pushing the envelope, and being unapologetically passionate. Being an artist is vulnerable, it’s daring, and it’s brave, and so we should let go and be all of those things. I want to see what people truly want to make, not what they’ve made to hopefully make money. I’m not exactly sure what my point here is, but if at the end of the day the rent is paid fuck everything else and just be free and true to yourself. I need our community to do that for my own inspiration and in return, I’ll promise to never compromise in the images I’m adding back into the pool.
I hadn’t, until I began teaching at Chrysalis High School, here in Taos, back in 2005.
(Shortly after we moved home from Brooklyn.)
The school started a few years prior, designed to help at-risk teenagers; children who who had abuse histories, and didn’t fit well in the structure of traditional learning.
It was a rag-tag place, for sure, (now since abandoned,) and art was a huge part of the curriculum, for all the reasons I’ve discussed in this column over the years.
Art can allow communication that is too painful, traumatic, difficult, or confusing for words.
It was at that school, teaching art in a therapeutic environment, (in a pilot program for UNM-Taos,) that I first learned the term “behavior modeling.”
And while it is much as it sounds, the concept is profound.
Basically, behavior modeling is the idea that acting in calm, measured, polite, adult, well-adjusted, healthy ways, around people who have not witnessed such things before, (or perhaps rarely,) can be cathartic.
We all need role models.
That’s a given.
But for people raised in dysfunctional, unhealthy families, or systems where poverty creates extreme conditions for addiction and abuse…
…just being around someone who’s nice to them, follows through on what he/she/they says, listens, doesn’t rush to judgement, gives positive feedback, doesn’t fly into a rage, or undermine one’s dreams…
…when I first started teaching there, it was stressed that behavior modeling alone could have a positive effect on the students.
So I learned to do check-ins, ask good questions, and care.
I learned how to teach a demographic with which I had little prior experience.
And ended up staying a decade.
(Because sometimes, showing works better than telling.)
I mention this all, because if you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know this is my final column here at A Photo Editor.
It’s February 2023, and I published my first piece on the bog in June 2010.
Nearly 13 years, and my column lasted 11.5.
As I’ve written before, (and won’t get into today,) the community I’ve covered here as a blogger/journalist has changed enormously.
It’s like another Universe, as social media was not yet ascendant, when we started.
Back then, Trump was just a loudmouth on TV, and I’d never heard of Elon Musk.
I still felt like a kid, (in a way,) at 36.
Or at least, I identified with my 20’s, and still partied a bit.
Now, at nearly 49, my son is in high school, we somehow have four dogs, and I’m glad we got a decent interest rate on our mortgage.
Nothing about any of this feels remotely like my 20’s.
(Not even a little.)
Having four dogs is cool.
It started with a pandemic pup in August 2020, and while Summer 2022 brought her a companion, (Billy Bones,) it wasn’t until last month that our canine family became complete.
We adopted Sunshine and Olly nearly a month ago; fraternal twin sisters we brought home from Stray Hearts Animal Shelter in Taos.
Sunshine and Olly
You can choose to believe me, (or not,) but the twins are a tad magical, and kept each other alive, when they were abandoned in a box at the shelter overnight, unnoticed for more than a day.
Sunshine is hearing impaired, (not sure if it’s OK to say she’s deaf, but I am positive I’m not supposed to say she’s among The Deaf,) and has taken to following me everywhere I go.
Like a sidekick. (Or maybe I’m the sidekick?)
Frankly, it’s a long story.
But the twins have had such an impact on our lives, in a short amount of time, and between them seem to represent so many elemental things…
Because Sunshine and Olly is non-commercial, and just for me at the moment, I will iterate, and make it more professional over time. (The first post is live, but the homepage is broken, so I’ll try to fix it.)
I’ll learn WordPress better, (Rob was a pro at giving me an easy system to use,) and hopefully you’ll be able to enjoy reading me over there from time to time.
It is a culture and lifestyle blog, but I’ll def be writing about photography, as the whole impetus for Sunshine and Olly was to review the photo books people had sent me, before I quit.
Whether you care to read about sports, art, food, travel, politics, or such things from me, when they’re divested from photography entirely, is up to you.
(Or when they don’t come into your email inbox from Rob, or go out to his massive Twitter following.)
But it doesn’t matter.
I’m doing this for fun, as art, and because I thought it was the right thing to do, according to my personal ethical code.
That’s all.
Given how much I’ve tried to teach in this column over the years, choosing to leave, (and when and how,) seemed like some of the best behavior modeling I could do, in 2023.
(Having the guts to walk away, and the willingness to embrace the future, without knowing exactly what that future’s going to bring.)
If you’ve been reading for a while, (or maybe even all along,) you’ll be familiar with my style, and voice.
I mixed it up over the years, for sure, but then some things are probably just as they were in 2011.
Understanding when it’s time to go, or change, is so difficult.
So this is how it’s going to end.
I went to PhotoNOLA in December of last year, held at the International House Hotel in New Orleans, and as I’ve previously reported, it was a problematic affair.
Not going to land on the negative, in my last piece, so suffice to say, there were plenty of awesome moments as well.
More than enough to make great memories.
I met four artists, at the review table, whose work I thought was worthy of publication here.
One of them, Undine Groeger, (originally from Germany,) isn’t ready to release the project, before a major publication can do it justice, so of course we respect her wishes.
(But you can check out her website, and hire her!)
The other three women will share the distinction of being the last few artists I published/promoted/appreciated during my time as a world-famous-photography-blogger, who told stories to the planet from a little, horse pasture outside Taos, New Mexico.
As with all the articles in the past, the artists are in no particular order.
When I first started looking at Anne Berry’s work, it reminded me of someone else I’d met at PhotoNOLA before, and published here: Mary Anne Mitchell.
Mary Anne had shown me moody, Southern Gothic, mysterious narrative images, (often featuring grandchildren in costumes,) and they were great.
I didn’t love that they were presented kind of like fabric curtains, and told her so.
Last year, at PhotoNOLA 2021, Mary Anne showed the prints, large and slickly framed, in the Currents show at the Ogden Museum, and I was floored.
They were dynamite, and I told her so. (It was nice to reconnect.)
When I met Anne, I mentioned her own moody, grayscale, constructed narrative images reminded me of Mary Anne’s work.
After a moment’s confusion, Anne told me that she was friends with Mary Anne, and along with some others in the Georgia photo community, they made work in a similar style.
When I came up, we tried to differentiate our work from our buddies. It was a point of pride.
Larry Bird is always talking about how players in the 80’s and 90’s hated their rivals, but the soft NBA kids today are friends with their enemies.
Times change. It’s cool that hoopers are friends today.
I’m no hater, so I adjusted to the idea that they liked making similar types of work.
And Anne’s pictures are lovely. Really well done.
(That penguin pic!)
Anne and I then talked about editing, and refining her image choices to make the most surprising, edgy, and original grouping she could.
It’s beautiful stuff, and I’m sure you’ll like it.
So of course we have to talk about Anne Walker next.
Anne used to be a pastry chef, and reported she just had hand surgery. (We hope you feel better soon, Anne!)
She also had grayscale, constructed images, though these were less about narrative, and more about object resonance.
Anne admitted she was relatively new to this, but I felt her past incarnation as an artist/craftsperson definitely informed her growth, because the selenium-toned prints were gorgeous, and flawless.
Finally, we have Lily Brooks, who works as Assistant Professor of Photography at Southeastern Louisiana University, and was recently named Edward G. Schlieder Foundation Endowed Professorship in Environmental Studies and Sustainability. (But she came South from New England.)
Lily showed me two projects, mixed together, and both were environmental series focusing on weather, pollution, and the effects of Climate Change.
We discussed whether two projects were actually one, and I shared I saw a divide between more emotional, moody images, and ones that were clinical/dry/academic.
How one weaves those strands together, or even understands where one project ends, and the next begins, is why art is art, and not science.
Thanks, Lily.
So I guess this calls time on the JBlau era at APE.
The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own. I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before. In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find. Please DO NOT send me your work. I do not take submissions.
This project’s impetus started with watching boardwalk chalk artists create elongated illustrations that, when viewed from a distance, foreshortened to appear three-dimensional, especially when people interacted with them. In my approach, the opposite happens- a 3D collage assemblage that ends up appearing in two dimensions.
I chose an outside corner as the overall shape because I wasn’t quite sure my theory would work. I had to keep it simple. I realized the “box” metaphor when I made my first sketches and thought about what that meant.
To me, a box can either be protection or a prison, depending on the subject. If in the form of protection, an environmental subject comes to mind. If in the form of imprisonment, then social issues seem applicable. So, I chose the latter as my first subject, and my friend, Cash Danielsen, came to mind.
When I approached him initially, I wanted to make sure the metaphor was something he could relate to in his experience as a transgender person. He confirmed that, indeed, it did, and away we went.
What I find so exciting about this project are all the possibilities in the vast array of subject matter and the technical aspects this process demands. It involves a precise workflow that I thrive on as an artist. For the illusion to succeed, all working parts must be duplicated over two capture sessions. Everything is marked, measured, calculated, and recorded throughout the entire project. Only in this way can the process deliver an illusion created in front of the camera. It’s that same outcome I’ve strived for throughout my 32-year-long practice, and I never seem to grow tired of its magic.
APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s. After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999. She has a Twitter feed with helpful marketing information because she believes that marketing should be driven by brand and not by specialty. Follow her at @SuzanneSease. Instagram
Success is more than a matter of your talent. It’s also a matter of doing a better job presenting it. And that is what I do with decades of agency and in-house experience.
Heidi: I know you’re a trained illustrator, when did you switch from agency Art Director back to your roots as an artist? Justin: My early agency days were spent mostly as an artist but as I became more established I started to contribute ideas for pitches and over time my role evolved into more of an art director’s one. As a digital artist specializing in CG I found it freed-up me creatively – anything was possible, both logistically and budgetary. Later I was part of a staff cull at the agency and had to consider my next move which in the end turned out to be an easy decision as all of the advice was to become a freelance artist.
What specific learnings did your agency work transfer to your current work? Wit and originality. The culture there was incredibly focused on finding new ways of approaching a brief, there was a lot of friendly competition which led to ever more interesting ideas. Working in an agency requires you to think differently and once learned it stays with you forever – it feeds into everything I do now. Editorial work is slightly different in that it needs a faster response – not just to the brief (I often get just a single day for concept and artwork) but from the consumer as it will be fighting to be heard above all the other covers on the newsstand.
What inspires you from the real world? Everything and nothing, it seems that for me inspiration strikes only when the conditions are right which is often removing myself from the process altogether. There are some things which will often jump start things – browsing through an art book for instance, and reading around the subject can often reveal a phrase which sparks an idea. That first idea, however poor it might be, is the most important one as it usually unlocks the mind.
Where do you look for inspiration since most of your work is conceptual? I think I subconsciously draw from past experiences and observations, I’m always studying how things look, how they behave and their effect on the environment, and how people respond to it. I think the real world is the best source of inspiration for conceptual work.
Do you have a journal or have any analog processes to sketch ideas? Yes, I sketch out all ideas very roughly on a pad but I have them all in my head too. Good ideas are hard won and stick around forever up there.
Where do you get your source images from? The usual stock libraries. If I need to use them the image will be built around them as it’s the only part I can’t fully control and if something isn’t working I’ll build it in CG which means I get to do whatever I want with it.
How do you know when you’ve solved the creative problem, or when the piece is done? I try to provide at least five ideas on the brief and with one or two I’m usually confident I have something that will work well, more often than not though my preferred concept is not the one that makes it to final. I don’t consider anything I’ve done to be finished, just cut short to meet the deadline.
How do you unwind your mind, or try and relax it in order for new ideas to flow in? Yes, it’s hard not to be on duty all of the time but I’m lucky – I have a great family which is very successful at diverting my attention. They’re funny and entertaining we spend time away from my work as often as we can.
Did you research Tesla crash images for this cover story and what direction did the magazine share?
I’ve worked with the New York Times Magazine a few times before and they’re a great team to work with so I knew it would be an interesting project. They knew they wanted me to smash up a few different models in different colors. The white one was intended for the cover and for me it was mostly a question of the extent of damage and making the images bold and impactful whilst ensuring they are as accurate as possible – I had to specifically research Tesla crash images as they’re very different ‘under the hood’. I wanted the images to look as if the crash has actually happened in the studio so the undamaged parts should look like a beauty shot.
Tell me about the images.
It is a mix of new personal and new client work for brands such as McDonald’s, Patron, UBER EATS and Angostura Rum. Stylistically, I’ve paired the vibrant shots on one side, and the somewhat warmer ones on the other. I like the fact that there is a coherent theme and look. Those are really my favorite images from the previous 12 months, as I don’t like to select work in a calculated way. I hope that approach resonates with the creatives who receive the mailer.
How many did you make?
I’ve printed 250 of them
How many times a year do you send out promos?
I usually send out a promo with new work 1x a year to specific and select clients who have opted in to receive them. The rest I hand out during in-person portfolio reviews and meetings.
Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
As a targeted approach, I think it is an appreciated reminder for those who are connected to me and really want to receive them. I’ve stopped sending mailers out to contacts I don’t personally know, haven’t worked with or haven’t met. I have a curated, personal list of about 1100 creatives I’m connected to that way and about 200 have opted in to receive actual mailers. I see it as an old fashioned way of staying in touch and I would of course love it if everyone on my list would opt in. I understand though that many don’t feel comfortable sharing their personal address, which is absolutely fine. This way, I don’t waste natural resources, money and efforts and know that I don’t bother anybody with unwanted mail.
The Art of the Personal Project is a crucial element to let potential buyers see how you think creatively on your own. I am drawn to personal projects that have an interesting vision or that show something I have never seen before. In this thread, I’ll include a link to each personal project with the artist statement so you can see more of the project. Please note: This thread is not affiliated with any company; I’m just featuring projects that I find. Please DO NOT send me your work. I do not take submissions.
They file in one by one, these kids, carrying their instruments. A young man with his harp, three more with trumpets, two young women with violins. A tenor guitar or vihuela, a large bass guitar or guitarrón. These are mariachi musicians.
They arrange themselves on the stage in two semi-circular lines. Violins and guitars in front, trumpets in back.
Finally, the singer walks in and takes her place in front of the group facing the audience. She is dressed in a colorful, form-fitting floral, floor-length dress. Her black shiny hair is pulled back in a bun fixed with colorful ribbons. She carries a large black sombrero trimmed in gold.
These are high school kids from La Grulla, Texas and musically refined beyond their years.
They wear Charro-inspired uniforms. Men in beautifully embroidered pants with rows of buttons down the outside of their legs, a short, waist length jacket also embroidered, a white shirt and colorful silk ties. The young women wear the same uniform except they wear long fitted skirts that fall to their boot tops.
Mariachi is a Mexican style of music dating from the 18th century. The groups play a variety of musical styles including rancheros, corridas, cumbias, huapangos, boleros, etc.
The music begins. A bolero, a romantic song. The singer is very dramatic and emotional in her delivery. She holds the microphone with one hand and with the other gestures with outstretched hand to the heavens, then makes a fist and pulls her hand to her heart. Such emotion! She sounds like a mature woman who has loved and lost and loved again. I think to myself: this is a 17-year-old girl! How did she learn to sing like that? How does she know to make her voice laugh and cry?
These portraits were done at the Mariachi Extravaganza in San Antonio, Texas. It’s an important yearly contest that has been going on for more than 20 years.
APE contributor Suzanne Sease currently works as a consultant for photographers and illustrators around the world. She has been involved in the photography and illustration industry since the mid 80s. After establishing the art-buying department at The Martin Agency, then working for Kaplan-Thaler, Capital One, Best Buy and numerous smaller agencies and companies, she decided to be a consultant in 1999. She has a Twitter feed with helpful marketing information because she believes that marketing should be driven by brand and not by specialty. Follow her at @SuzanneSease. Instagram
Success is more than a matter of your talent. It’s also a matter of doing a better job presenting it. And that is what I do with decades of agency and in-house experience.
Who printed it?
The cards are printed by https://www.4by6.com. I’ve been using them for several years and they print both my Promo Cards and my Business Cards. I really love them because they allow small orders so you can make multiple cards and not have to rely on just one design that you have to have a large number printed. Also their Satin finish is really nice.
The Promo Book was printed by https://www.blurb.com. It’s their Trade Book size. I just wanted to create something similar to a “zine”. And I see it as it can be updated or changed around as I create new work. As with the Promo Cards I like that Blurb will allow limited runs so I tend to order as needed.
Who designed it?
The cards and the Promo Book where designed by my Graphic Designer friend, Lisa Kay based on a rough design I had. Lisa is based here in New York and her resume and client base is extensive and impressive. I feel she certainly elevates my work. Also I think it helps to have another set of eyes, (especially someone who might not be so personally attached to the work) look at what works together and what might not.
Essentially I like to do new physical cards whenever there is new work that I am really excited about or I feel will be a nice addition to the set.
When I first started working with this particular design it was only my work of cultural icons but about 10 months ago I decided to start incorporating some of my Beauty work into it with the thought that it complimented the portraits rather well.
How Many Times a Year Do You Send Out Promos?
This is a trickier question to answer. I primarily use promos as leave behinds when I have in person meetings or portfolio reviews. I find that with a lot of people now working hybrid it’s more effective to just send a digital PDF of new work via an e-mail. I also believe in personalizing or catering the e-mail to the specific and hopefully potential client who is on the other end of the e-mail. So I’m not really using an e-mail blast service.
I’m basically writing each person individually. I think this is effective especially if you are reaching out to a team of people who work together. At least this way it’s not just the same e-mail going to each of them. I do try to find a way to personalize the body of the e-mail to each team member even if the PDF that they are receiving is the same one that their colleagues are receiving as well.
Because my work is more portrait driven and not lifestyle advertising I think this approach has been beneficial. So the round about answer is for the past year whenever I’ve done new work, whether it be client work or just a personal Beauty shoot I will make a PDF of the new work and send it out to Editors and Clients I’ve worked with in the past and to new potential clients.
When there is a positive response from someone I have not met with in person before depending on the response I may ask if I can send them the physical package. But before doing that I like to ask if they are in the office these days first. Because if they aren’t, I feel asking for someone’s home address might be a bit of an overreach.
