Download - Artistik Magazine

TALKBACK
Kerstin Upmeyer
Illustrator & Instructor
kupmeyer.com
“What does it take to get a good job? What if I’m not sure what type of job I want? Can I, or should I consider working for myself?”
As a rising, creative professional, you’re likely to ask yourself many questions. Sometimes it’s tough to know where to go for
answers. As both a seasoned instructor in a design college and a professional in the industry who keeps her ear to the ground,
I’ll do my best to provide you with the straight scoop when it comes to this crazy, yet fulfilling world of design.
For this edition, I’ve chosen to respond to a question from a professional photographer and old classmate of mine living and
working in Germany. She asks:
“ As a Photographer, how do you find work and representation?
How do you represent yourself and your work to the best of
your abilities?”
These are great questions, but since I am an illustrator
and designer, not a photographer, I knew I’d need
some expert advice for answering this one. So I
looked to a colleague of mine from IADT- Online, Glen
Perotte. Glen is an award winning former advertising
photographer who in recent years has turned his
attention to art education and fine-art photography.
Glen explained that first you have to consider what
aspect of the field you are talking about. There is
commercial photography, Fine art photography, and
Wedding/ Event/Portraiture photography. Considering
his own experience and what we both agreed most
readers would be interested in, Glen filled me
in on the basics of successful marketing for a
commercial photographer.
Commercial work, like taking photos for magazines,
ad agencies and design companies has a few standard
ways you can market yourself. First, you need to have a
portfolio, both a physical book and an online website.
Initially an interested business may look for you via
your website. If they become really interested they
may call you in to be interviewed. In some instances,
clients may commission you solely based on your
web-site, however a hard copy portfolio is still
required. Leave behinds like picture postcards are
also a great idea to have in your arsenal.
You can contact various agencies by searching out
services that list agencies in USA and Europe and use
it to contact the art buyer of an agency. This is the
most important person for a photographer; they are
the gatekeepers for the agency when it comes to
buying and commissioning art. A Creative director
will brief the art buyer on what they are looking for
and the buyer’s job is to find a match. They may look
through industry standard directories, like The Black
Book and the Creative Handbook. These are places
where you as a photographer, might pay to be listed
(be warned however, it is not cheap!).
Photography Agents are another method of getting your
work sold. Either they find you, or you can try to get hold
of them. If you are looking for an agent, you want to do
your research, both to make sure they’re reputable and
are familiar with the kind of work you do. You would
promote yourself to them in a similar manner as to an
agency. Once you are in with a good agent they can take
a lot of that work off your plate. They find work for you,
and promote you through their website and other means.
They have connections you may not, and can be a buffer
between you and the art buyer/client. A good agent also
does all negotiations (checking with you for agreement
of course). It’s in their best interest to get you a good deal.
An agent has a vested interest; usually an agent takes
25% commission on your fees. This does not including
markups on expenses you get paid for that work, like
hiring models, make-up artists, and stylists. All in all, an
agent can free up a lot of time for the photographer so
they can do what they’re good at, being a photographer,
and not get bogged down in business details.
As to the question of networking, Glen suggests you
embrace it all! Links through Social Networking sites
such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are examples.
Also joining professional industry and trade groups
can be very smart. Any platform that makes you
more visible, he says, do it! One final suggestion is
the importance of winning awards. Awards are one
of the best ways to promote you in the photography
field. When a client sees the connection between you,
good imagery, and the recognition of your ability, it’s
definitely a potent combination.
Concept:
“Reality Check”, created by Professional Photography student Xong Hang, is a
combination of photography and finger-painting illustration. This piece is meant
to create a new perspective of an artistic collaboration showing a photograph
transitioning into an illustration.
Materials:
Original photography combined with hours of intricate finger illustration using an
Apple iPad and the Layers Pro application.
16 artistikmagazine.com | WINTER 2011
17
INSIGHT