Patti has named her new company Elemental PhotoArt—
“elemental” because of nature and “all its glorious elements”
and because the photographers’ work she has been drawn to
has been nature-oriented. “Photo art” represents the fact that
she will represent other media in addition to photo. “I did not
want to just limit myself to photography and realized that
I needed a name that represented the full dimension of my
product line,” she comments.
Relationships are extremely important for this agent, and
she began the development of her talent pool by turning to a
close friend. “I want to work with people that have similar
values,” she states. “It made sense to begin by turning to those
photographers in my life that I had a personal relationship
with. I had a close friend of mine that I wanted to include in
this new group of talent and from there I put the word out
amongst my personal contacts that I was looking for a new
talent pool. I was amazed at the support I received; the names
kept flying in.”
Patti was very focused on the type of imagery she was look-
ing for and drew prospects from her ad days. “I have talked to
many photographers during my years as an ad rep, and I began
to contact those that I thought had the type of visuals and point
of view that would be a fit for my new direction.”
Patti chose the rest of her team based on their vision and
their point of view on life.I have a clear vision of what I was looking for. The
visuals need to be beautiful and speak to serenity and
calm. I need my talent to know and be invested in
creating that type of energy. In a way I am the client as
well as the agent. The photographers who got what I was
trying to do, the ones that understood my vision, were
also the people I felt most connected to. Interestingly,
they had images that were a perfect fit, calming and
peaceful. Those were the people who were meant to be
a part of this journey. It’s a new way of partnering.So what will her relationships look like?
“I have always worked closely with my talent,” she states.
“I like collaborating and the feeling of teamwork. I need toCHAPTER14 / THENEWBREED OFAGENTChapter 14.qxd 6/25/07 7:19 AM Page 89