Tim Gundry's talk…
Today we had an insightful talk from Tim Gundry, the lead lecturer on BA Commercial Photography. Thinking into the future, we all know that we are going to need to make money once we have graduated and he talked to us about the ways in which we could commercialise our practices in order to make a living. I am not that interested in making money with photography. For me, it is my passion and art practice, however, I do know that it will be a necessity in the future to bring in money and with photography being my main skill, I would be stupid not to take advantage of that to make money in the future.
We discussed the avenues that we can go down in the future to build a client/ commercial focused portfolio/ business.
Client led work- A client comes to you, ie for an event/ wedding/ headshot shoot. They will tell you the kind of photography that they want and you will be expected to complete the shoot to their breif.
Voluntary work- this is something you may feel you need to do at first to build your portfolio in order to get paid work in the future...I have done enough of this… and never again will I feel like I have to shoot something for free.
Freelance work- Much of this work will be client let. Completing work to briefs and also running your own business. You will have to spend time marketing yourself and bringing in clients who want you to shoot for them. Freelance work gives you the freedom to pick and choose who you want to shoot for, but if there is not much work coming in, then you may fall into a sticky situation. Also if you shoot freelance, you do not have the benefits of being employed, such as holiday pay, sick pay and pension contributions. I personally think that all of the work that I do once I graduate will be freelance...I hate the idea of being employed and told what to do, its a creative limitation.
Employment- e-commerce photography. Working for a company, shooting products for websites or magazines. You will most probably be shooting the same thing day in and day out...the pay is regular but the job will become routine...not something I would want to do.
Fashion Photography- shooting models and working for clothing brands and magazines. This work will most probably be freelance but it is possible to get contracts with companies. The work might not be often but the payment is fairly high. If you want to be a successful fashion photographer in the UK then you need to base yourself in London...not something I want to do.
Advertising photography- Often agency work, you may be sent around places to shoot property or business that want promotional photographs. This work will come under the bracket of freelance work, however you could sign onto a contract for so many hours of work a month.
Editorial Photography- This comes under the freelance bracket. You will be working with magazines and people. Quite often not given that much time to complete the shoot and the money will be on a day rate/ job rate.
Tim talked about the skills which are good to have at the end of your fingertips when wanting to work in a commercial-style in the future. Learn how to light well and fast, so you can go into a studio space and feel comfortable but importantly know what you are doing. You also need to have the right attitude to work as a photographer, especially if you are working freelance as you are the face of you. You need to have a positive, empathetic and client-focussed approach to every shoot that you complete as you want your clients to be happy. Happy clients will always get you more work in the future, whether that be repeat business, word of mouth or a nice testimonial on your website/ google reviews.
I took a fair bit from Tim’s talk today and it has given me some food of thought as to how I might want to approach commercialising my work in the future. One thing that I know about myself is that I like to be here there and everywhere which means the freelance world of photography is most definitely the route that I will most probably take. After I graduate I want to focus on my own practice and personal projects which I will need to fund through commercial work.
The Employability Attributes Framework.
Critical thinking and problem solving
Adaptable and flexible working
Organisation and management skills
Digitial excellence and willingness to learn
Confidence, leadership and social influence
Emotional intelligence and consideration to others
Self-awareness and resilience
Effective and impactful communication
Networking and public engagement
Enterprise and entrepreneurial thinking
Business awareness and agile thinking
I think that I have a well-rounded set of skills, of which include the skills above. I have had a number of jobs, volunteered and had my own freelance gigs which have taught me the skills that I need to develop myself in the future. I know that I could develop my business awareness as it is not something I have had to do as such. Being at uni and having incomes from other jobs which I enjoy has meant that I have not been focusing on commercial work at all. It is also something that I do not enjoy massively and at the moment I only take the work that comes to me, I do not actively search for the work myself.