audience – Journey Through the Lens

Reflecting on the topic for this week, I looked at where I am currently and where I imagine I would like to be in five years time. I am not yet a commercial photographer, so I do not have a current market, however, I do have a small and growing audience which has largely been gathered via social media, in particular, Instagram. My audience has good engagement with my content and there is a core group of loyal followers who consistently interact with my feed.

I started out sharing my photography on Instagram with no intention other than challenging myself to share my images and to make the commitment of sharing one image a day. I was stunned by the response and positive feedback I received as I had never considered the prospect of an audience, and was merely posting images for myself. This online platform has proven to be an incredible networking tool, helping me to connect to others and to form genuine relationships. Breaking Glass Magazine, who have recently shared some of my photography, are an example of the real networking, connection and community that I have discovered through Instagram. Below is one of my featured images from their October 2019 Anniversary Edition article which can be viewed here.

Candleriggs Square, Glasgow, July 2019 © Juanita McKenzie

I do now look at things like engagement statistics because they are a good measure of whether I am consistently creating quality content for my audience, but also it is a great marketing research tool as it can give good indications of trends, preferences and audience loyalty. However, I do not measure myself by my number of followers and likes, but rather on the quality of real engagement and authentic connection that I can form with others, and by staying true to my own artistic vision.

I imagine that in five years time, my audience would have grown considerably and I would have expanded my presence across other online channels. I would also have begun to market my work and my personal brand through these channels and other areas that are industry relevant and which would place me in the correct market share for my work. Networking is as important online as in person, so this will be central to connecting me to my particular market and over time, my audience and market would begin to see some overlap.

This would be achieved by a strong business plan which incorporates a marketing, communications and social media strategy, alongside creating the quality content and photographic products that my market and audience would engage with. I am very interested in creating photographic books, selling prints and potentially doing freelance work for relevant publications, so my target market is easily defined. I would also consider teaching, running workshops and curating content as supplements to my income in order to be able to freelance and commit to my photography as a full time and commercially viable practice.

This week we explored commercial environments in photography and looked at whether there is a difference between commercial photography and art. Although there is a clear difference in their intended audiences and market, the end result is the same, the aim is to gain income from the work. This means that ultimately all photography could be considered as commercial, and it is not just confined to editorial or advertising markets. What is also important to remember is that it is always the client who sets the rules for photography because they want content that matches their brand and their budget. With the rise of digital technology and social media this has created an increased demand for images and quality content but it has also made the market far more competitive.

In the publishing sector, many publications no longer have printed editions and have instead created online publications. Their revenue has decreased and therefore so have their budgets, meaning that editorial work is now sparse and often poorly paid. The rise of mobile phone technology and citizen journalism has also meant that many publications no longer need to pay for images and instead publish submissions from their viewers at no cost to themselves, further impacting on this market. In an interview for the British Journal of Photography, Emma Bowkett, director of photography at the FT Weekend Magazine describes how online publication has changed the type of content needed and says:

“There has been a shift of focus from print to digital in newspapers and for our magazine, the challenge is to bring long-form journalism and visually rich content to this platform. We are working more with data and video to create a reader experience that is way beyond what we could achieve in print. It’s an interesting time for experimentation.” (Bowkett, Emma. 2017)

Advertising work has also had to change and adapt to the demand for online content and a changing audience. The style of advertising has changed to reflect global brand identities and the aim of creating brand loyal communities. There has also been a shift to using stock images for advertising campaigns rather than commissioning work, however, there is still a good market for photographers. Stock photography is a potential commercial market for photographers to consider, however, it is important to consider the type of licensing and payment that will be received through this type of commercial market, and also what type of photographs are sold as all control over the use of these images is lost once sold as stock photography. It is, however, a good market to consider as a supplement to earnings.

One area of commercial photography that is still a good market and which is showing interesting and dynamic trends, is that of fashion photography. There has been an increasing trend towards a merging of fine art and fashion photography which has resulted in some incredible editorial work. A fine art fashion photographer whose work I admire is Lindsay Adler, an artist who has established herself firmly within the industry as both a photographer (doing commissioned fashion and editorial photography, as well as selling fine art prints) and an educator (selling books, tutorials and workshops). She is an example of a photographer who has fully understood the modern commercial market and has created multiple income streams and a successful personal brand.

References: Creative Brief Emma Bowkett. 2017. The British Journal of Photography, 164(7858), pp. 84-85.