This week we were given opportunity to prepare oral presentations ahead of our assignments at the end of the term and to practice these with our peers. Once again, I am unable to participate because my current work demands have been so high. There have been a number of events this term beyond my control that have thrown me into disarray, but work has been exceptionally demanding recently. I am beginning to worry that I am falling behind on coursework and not gaining the full benefit of the weekly discussions and peer work.
At the moment, I am using every available moment of my free time to work on my studies but there is simply not enough time in a day. I have had to prioritise certain parts of the course that I feel are most important: the live brief, as this is part of work within a group; getting out and taking the photographs that I need for my project this term; attending my individual tutorials and also webinars where possible, watching recorded materials as I can, and doing some of the contextual research and reading in the time that is left.
This week I had my first individual tutorial with my tutor, Laura. I have not been able to attend many webinars so I do feel as though I have not been able to benefit fully from her experience and guidance through the weeks so far. Laura has, however, been brilliant in getting to know me and developing an understanding of my photographic practice and current work.
Laura observed that although I don’t believe I have yet found my creative voice, that I have already developed my own style which is consistent across the images I have presented to her. We talked about how I am grouping and sequencing my images and exploring ways to create a narrative through clever use of sequence. I mentioned that I think this project may lend itself to becoming a photography book and Laura has suggested I think about how I would incorporate some text and to research ways of doing a creative layout for a book.
Through questioning, Laura extracted that I spend a lot of time walking and exploring my environment to discover the things I photograph. She quickly identified that this is a core part of my photographic practice and she has suggested I do some reading on the subject of walking and try to reach a deeper insight around why this is so important to me and how this shapes my photographic practice. She has recommended a book that I have now added to my list of reading for contextual research.
I felt the tutorial was very encouraging and supportive, and I particularly liked that Laura asked a lot of questions which led me to some important insights about my practice. She is definitely getting me to explore a different layer of meaning within my current project and this is leading me to explore why I do what I do, why I have chosen this particular project and what it really means to me.
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.
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.
Thinking about the lessons, this week, I have had to consider where I locate my practice between personal projects and commercial photography. I am not yet doing any commercial work and it was only a few years ago that I rediscovered photography after earlier aspirations of being a photojournalist. Although I no longer necessarily wish to pursue a career in journalism, the documentary impulse still remains but is focused on social issues and causes. I also feel increasingly drawn to fine art photography and wonder if there is a way to combine both aspects into my photographic practice.
The difficulty for me has been in finding my voice as a photographer and I took on the MA Photography because I wanted to develop my personal style and learn more about turning my personal projects and passion for photography into pieces of art or meaningful bodies of work. I think that initially I would lean naturally towards photographic books and related exhibitions around these bodies of work. I am increasingly drawn to the work of social documentary photographers such as Zed Nelson and Alec Soth. Looking to the works of established photographers will be important in providing inspiration and helping me to find my own style within these genres of photography.
Learning from others in the industry, participating in contests and reviews, attending workshops, networking and developing my personal brand are my next steps in this process, and I will explore these avenues concurrent with my MA project and other personal projects as these may be the beginnings of a meaningful body of work. At the same time, I will look at breaking into the commercial photography market possibly through the sale of prints, stock photography and even some portrait work. I am currently building up a portfolio of related work. Due to working a full time job, my efforts to break into any form of commercial photography would need to be on a part-time basis and will take some time to plan. That said, it is a priority for me to put in the time and energy to build something for the future that is both sustainable and meaningful.
Although I am still establishing and developing my own visual language, I do have a personal style that comes through my work but which I still find difficult to define. Not everyone relates to or understands some of my projects, wondering why I would consider the subject matter that I do, but as these are personal projects, I make conscious photographic choices and stay true to my creative vision in this way. Learning from others is very important to my development and growth as a photographer, however, I have also learned it is essential that I don’t make comparisons to the work of others because this can be a downfall not just in photography but in all areas of life.
I do tend to focus on long term project work, so some of my ideas would take years to reach fruition and show results. This means that they would remain personal projects for now although there is always the possibility that this could change in the future. My current project for the MA is one that I view as a long term project that I foresee developing throughout the two years, however, as the course is structured into modules across terms, my challenge is to create meaningful visual chapters of a much longer process.
This week we looked at business basics and writing up business plans. We also touched briefly on copyright law. The practical aspects of working within the photographic industry were discussed alongside the various careers within the photography industry, as well as discussion around what it means to be a professional photographer in the industry today.
Scott Grant (2014) in his book identifies three types of professional photographer:
High end professional photographer – high end professional clients across many genres, high financial reward.
General professional photographer – clients across many genres from a less prestigious client base, lower financial reward, photographers tend to be from an art or academic background, aspire to becoming a high end professional photographer.
Domestic professional photographer – work in commercial photography for weddings, events, portraits and is not commissioned, usually self taught, regionally based and rely on constantly finding new clients.
I am not yet earning significant income from photography so I do not consider myself to be a professional photographer at this point, although I would like this to be a future prospect. I would aspire to freelance work as a general professional photographer and have an interest in social-documentary photography, architecture and cityscape photography, and the creation of photography books. Although, there are many other careers to be considered in the photographic industry, I am primarily interested in the photography itself. The challenge will be to succeed in a highly competitive industry in a digital age.
Journey Through the Lens 