A Good Book

 

I recently took part in a portfolio review at Contact Photo Festival in Toronto. I saw a photographer there who signed up to have his book reviewed. He is established in Canada, but I did not know about him.
He presented his portfolio, your generic black book, and showed me what I thought was a sort of mish mash of all kinds of styles.
It is a month ago so I can not remember exactly what he had in there, but it ranged from say, corporate portraits to a bit of interiors to moody portraits. The expression “all over the place” comes to mind. That is what I told him. My advice was to spruce up the presentation a bit, and make the content more cohesive, present a vision, how he sees, to make people want to hire him for his unique view.
He then pulled out another book, a beautiful presentation in a custom made binder, and some of the work was part of a series that he had been working on, other images were from a different body of work but matched perfectly with the overall. The work was strong, and showed of a unique photographic expression, and it was memorable and made an impression on me. I still think about one of those images. It was the kind of book that would make me want to hire him for a campaign (if I had one that matched) if I were an art director.
I was kind of surprised and asked him why there was such a difference in the two books. He said that he thought presenting a lot of different styles would be good to show the reviewers what he could do. I could not disagree more – and I felt bad about being negative about the first book afterwards.
This whole experience highlights what I see a lot when I look at books, and I call it The Wedding Singer syndrome.
When you are a wedding singer you sing songs other people want you to sing. When you  join an original band, you sing your songs.
Often photographers put things in their books that they think people want to see, or things that back up the notion that they have a lot of experience (..and I have done This, and This, and This..). When it really is about inspiring a thought, a spark, and giving creative people ideas by showing them a body of work. Showing your credentials is important sometimes, but I would like to think that people will trust a strong creative mind and that is what you need to show.
Here is my advice.
* Ask for help to decide what your strongest work is, and weed out work that may be impressive but is shot in a style that is not your thing anymore. Often photographers put in work that is a few years old, and I find that it invariably shows. I can almost always tell what work is the most recent, it has the most energy and therefore it is better. Beware of mixing really great work with not so great – I find that it weakens the overall.
* Select work for your book that presents your vision, your unique style, and gear it toward the kind of work you would like to in the future somewhat. Think about inspiring somebody (an art director, a photo editor, a creative director) as opposed to impressing somebody.
* Keep your head clear. Everybody will have a different opinion about the direction your book should have, but it is most important what you think and what you like.
* If you don’t have enough work – then shoot until you do. You must shoot new work.
* Know thyself. Think about your portfolio as a whole. Let the outside match the inside and ultimately, let it match you. Beware of overstating and embellishing too much, trust the image.
* Take your time. Putting a book together can sometimes be a long process. But if your expression is strong it can be easy on the other hand.
* Do your research. If you can, look at what other photographers have done with their books for inspiration. Portfolio reviews can also be inspiring, and get you information on what other people think. Be prepared to take some critique. Most often the reviewers are people that see a lot of work.

Think about quitting the wedding band. When you are ready to do those original songs hopefully people will listen.

Comments

[Lucas Cichon]

Kristina,

Thanks for another great post! Something I'm struggling with right now. Putting together new books can be a real pain.

Funny, it used to be we only had to worry about our books, now we have websites to deal with also.

Thanks again.

[Kristina]

Thank you - and thank you for giving me an idea for another post! A Good Website!
baby steps...
Regards,
Kristina

[scott]

I found you after reading Mister Haggart's blog. I like your writing style, so I come back.

This was a neat little snippet. What I'd be curious to hear (not because it matters at all, I suppose -- just that I'm nosy) is what the second book's images were like. I completely know what you mean about the first book -- my website kinda looks like that -- but what details can you share to further explain the second book that made it stick with you?

And, as always, thanks for being here and answering the questions of the rabble. (:

[Stina]

Great post. I think a lot of photographers are hustling so much they look for assignments all over the place trying to please everyone. At a seminar I once went to we were over and over told to narrow down our title "photographer" to say "portrait photographer" or "architectural photographer" because potential clients didn't want to figure that out.

I've only put one book together. I can't say it was great, but I learned to look at my book as an assignment for a magazine where all pictures should go together. That was a great experience.

[Kristina]

Stina - that sound like a good approach. I think the trick is to know your limitations and to exploit them to the max. Do whatever you do well.
Scott - the second book had an essay on motels that was produced and cast, and also some images with similar vibe that blended well. The photographer told me that he produced the shoot for himself, specifically to show in a book. They were moody, mysterious and really good, sort of a riff on Edward Hopper, slice of life.
I bet he will get work with that book. I certainly remember the images very well because it made an emotional impression on me.

[Kristina]

Kristina, GREAT! Can't wait to see what you have to say about websites.

Stina's seminar is pretty much what my old agent had me do. She had me create a one page website with just my portrait work on it.

My website is kind of a hodge-podge of what I like to shoot, portraits, panoramic shots, landscapes, anyway she had me put together this one page. Not sure how effective it was compared to my regular site but it does define my work a bit quicker I guess.