NEWS & INSIGHTS

Stay in school

“Why should I go to college to study photography?” “I already know all that there is to know,” my all-knowing seventeen-year-old-self said to my dad at the dinner table. Miles of film and countless zeros & ones have flowed since that family dinner. I have created and sold a career’s worth of images and yet, I am still a student of photography and my youthful idealism and passion have evolved into action and discipline. Some ideas just pop into my head, while other concepts can take years to work out. They need to be slowly distilled from the chaos of notions into distinct plans and constructs. The vision can be a literary one like, “What would happen if I take a cool looking young man to an urban playground?” or it can be a very abstract thought like, “red blouse, blue ocean, summer light”. The point here is that the concepts should be fodder for a project with the same rigors and details that come with an “assignment”.

Never skip recess

What would happen if we could approach each project with a sense of fearless play? Too often we forget, or we believe we are unable to schedule in the most important elements of creation… a sense of play and spontaneity. Clients may come onto the set filled with anxiety, worried that if things aren’t perfect, there will be consequences. So how do we creatives explore and experiment in this environment? I believe we have to create an atmosphere on set that allows for play. We have to turn our sets into playgrounds and classrooms where we students are allowed to ask, “What would happen if?” So, folding in time for exploration and discovery can be invaluable in the end. You will have a hard time with those happy accidents if you are running your shoot in a scientific, back-to-back manner.

Help your fellow students (And let them help you)

One thing I do, while the crew is setting up and the talent is in makeup, I take a few minutes to touch base with each and every person. I remind them of what we are doing, why we are doing it and what their role is. I let them know that this set is a safe set and a place where they can contribute and speak their minds. When I see someone, who is struggling in their task, I will quietly offer support. I also make sure that my clients know that I want and accept their input. In my mind, my role is much more like a conductor than a soloist. I also have to confirm if the layouts are jumping off points or if they need a photograph that looks exactly so… is it in line with what the client agreed to?… and, most importantly, can we try something a little different at this point? A collaborative class can lead to more diverse and generous results.

Keep the lessons going

My partners and I discuss our collective approach to our clients’ needs and, as we do so, we look for opportunities to stretch and push boundaries on their behalf. Of course, we then bring the client team in to throw the ball around with them. This approach also makes the work uniquely ours and provides a much more ownable result in the realms of their aesthetic and messaging needs. Furthermore, we not only become better students, but ongoing study partners who complement one another and this can lead to some great assignments turning into great work and, in turn, better outcomes.