How to Succeed in Commercial Photography : Insights From a Leading Consultant

BE A CLIENT

In order to begin creating your positioning statement, pre-

tend you are the client. Look at your current portfolio and

pretend that you are a new contact seeing it for the first time.

Now describe what you are seeing.

What is the message that you get? Do the images individu-

ally and collectively tell you what type of assignment you would

hire this photographer for? Is the photographer’s message

clear? Is it deep and can you see application? Can you define

and articulate the photographer’s visual approach? What type

of client would you hire this photographer for? What might

that client’s message be?

These are the questions that art buyers need to have

answered when they look at your book or Web site.

Art buyers often keep files on talent, listing what they shoot

and noting each shooter’s approach to his area of specialty.

Buyers who do this often bookmark Web sites and save promos.

Some even go so far as to list words and categories that describe

the talents’ style so they can later remember what they have

seen. They turn to these references when an assignment is on

their desk. Many photo editors and graphic designers have told

me they have similar practices. The descriptive words they use

might surprise you:

• Illustrative product—heavy color, strong sense of graphic
  composition


• People—warm, emotional, portraits and moments


• People—lifestyle, cutting edge, motion, alive


• Architecture—big, bold editorial style, detail-oriented shots


• Corporate location—all subjects, strong lighting, great use
  of environment

It is obvious that buyers are defining you by not only what

you shoot but also howyou do it. Your responsibility is to give

them the message to write on the back of your business card,

the category under which to file your mailers.

While not all buyers are literally writing these words down, all

are, most definitely, seeking a clear sense of what you shoot and

how you create. That is how they differentiate one photographer

CHAPTER3 / DEFININGYOURVISUALVALUE

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