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Chris Salvo: Wanderlust
Photographer Q&A with Chris and Suzanne Salvo
Chris and Suzanne Salvo are a Houston-based team specializing in corporate and industrial location photography. With a worldwide clientele that includes many Fortune 500 corporations, assignments have taken them to nearly 50 countries and counting. Chris has been an ASMP member since 1987.
For more information on the Salvo's visit their website at www.salvophoto.com.
We caught up with them in August during a rare breather at home between assignments.
Jill Waterman (JW): Chris and Suzanne, please give me a little background about yourselves. Chris, how did you start out in photography and how long have the two of you been working together?
Chris Salvo (CS): I picked up my first camera when I was 10 years old and I never seriously considered any other career. During a high school trip to Europe at 16, I came down with a chronic case of wanderlust. I had never been very far out of Louisiana and I was totally awed by the experience. After a stint as a Navy photographer and 5 years as a staff photographer in Houston, I began freelancing after the photographic department in my company was curtailed. Suzanne was initially my client, as marketing manager for a UK-based advertising agency. When her agency folded in 1985, we decided to join forces, personally and professionally.
Susan Salvo (SS): In the early part of our career together, I went after any kind of work. We spent many unhappy hours working to justify a large studio overhead and full-time assistant. We were making money, but we were miserable. When I started pushing just the location work and started assisting Chris on the road, things really changed. We were able to offer a unique service, and the fact that we loved what we were doing came through in the work we produced.
Select the links below for image galleries from the Salvos’ recent travels:
JW: What’s unique about the services you provide?
SS: Our clients appreciate that while Chris handles the photography, my job is to make the clients’ job easier. Because of my communications background, I can provide extensive on-location project research so the client doesn’t have to send a writer into the field. I also handle all scheduling and travel arrangements. Overview of credentials and experience.
JW: When a trip is in planning stages what are your most important considerations?
SS: The first consideration is what it will take to get there. For a recent assignment in Columbia, South America, it took a commercial jet into Bogotá, a charter flight to El Yopal, and two helicopter hops to reach the first jungle location. That trip was particularly hard to plan. Due to terrorist activities, the helicopter schedule was never posted and it changed every day.
JW: I understand you’re quite successful in piggybacking work for several clients into one trip. Do issues arise with scheduling between clients? How do you keep everyone happy?
SS: First I secure the dates and locations for the client footing the bulk of the travel bill. They’re the anchor for planning the trip logistics. Then, deadlines permitting, I contact other companies with operations in that part of the world. Through the years, we’ve established relationships with a broad base of clients with worldwide ops. Many times, existing clients refer us to other companies with overseas needs. Just about all of our clients have benefited from a shared or free travel expense to their locations, so everybody’s happy.
Read what their clients have to say about a Salvo Photo work experience.
JW: Can you give me an example of a successful multi-client assignment?
SS: Once, in Singapore, we shot the same project for 3 different clients! Each company handled a different aspect of the design, construction or maintenance of the project, so their photo needs were totally different. By sharing the travel expenses between 3 clients, it made an overseas shoot financially possible for each of them, and it netted us more work.
JW: Do you give all clients full information about your entire trip?
SS: Some of the projects we shoot involve proprietary information, so I don’t share photos or information between clients. When asked questions like “Who’s your client in Algeria”? I’ll answer by saying, “It’s an energy services company” or “It’s a railroad project.” I’m protective of the companies we work for and it’s really nobody else’s business.
JW: Is there a downside to piggybacking assignments?
SS: Logistical planning for multi-client, multi-country assignments is the hardest part of my job. Getting clients to commit to specific dates is like herding ants – the minute you get one pinned down, the rest have shifted. Once I get approval on a basic overall schedule, I make sure everyone knows that a change of just one day can add thousands of dollars to their travel costs.
Earlier this year, we did a 23-day trip with stops in the UK, Azerbaijan, France, India and Africa that required two months of research to put everything in place. The day before we left the States, our contact in Baku called asking to delay our visit. He had forgotten about a national holiday. Making this change would have jeopardized the entire trip.
JW: Can you describe your assignment planning with clients?
SS: I spend a great deal of time in strategic planning with the client. I tell them, "The more we know, the better job we can do for you." I want to see all the background info that exists on a project. I ask to sit in on project meetings and teleconferences. That’s where I get accurate logistical details, straight from people that have actually been to the location.
JW: Have you ever found corporate clients and on-site workers ideas/needs to be contradictory?
SS: Invariably, there’s a disconnect between the home office and what is actually happening on location. The worst thing we can hear when we get to a site is, “Gee, I wish I had known you were coming.” That means delays and quality compromises. I’ve developed a form with all the logistical details about the assignment, but beyond that, it tells the contact exactly how the images will be used and what the benefit will be to the location. That helps assure cooperation.
For a copy of the Salvos’ Location Photography Checklist, e-mail Suzanne at ssalvo@salvophoto.com.
JW: What has been your longest stint on the road during one trip?
SS: In 1998 we did a 36-day South American project that included multiple stops for four different clients with locations in Venezuela, Bolivia, Columbia, Argentina and Brazil. We didn’t find out we were going to Brazil until after we’d left the States. We obtained Brazilian tourist visas (business visas would have taken several days and lots more paperwork) while in Buenas Aires. We somehow convinced the immigration officials that the four cases of equipment we were carrying were for our Brazilian ‘vacation’.
JW: What kind of safety issues do you deal with in your work?
SS: We work in dangerous environments. We hang from crane buckets, trek through malaria jungles and, most dangerous of all, Chris feels compelled to try all the local foods. We travel with an extensive medical kit that includes a broad-spectrum antibiotic and lots of stomach medications.
CS: We have witnessed ghastly offshore rig accidents, prison riots, had several industrial plants explode shortly after our departure, and I set off the radiation detector after a shoot in a nuclear plant. It turned out OK – the radiation tech gave the gauge a big thwack with his fist and the indicator dropped below the red zone.
Read about the Salvos’ recent experiences in wartime Iraq and other exotic adventures.
JW: When leaving for an extensive trip, please describe your cargo of equipment.
CS: Through the years, our kit has gotten smaller and smaller as we find new ways to do things with less. I’ve been shooting digital on the road for nearly two years now and love it. No more lugging hundreds of rolls of film around and no more x-ray worries! Typically we carry 4 containers of gear: One cargo bag containing a tripod, 3-4 small stands, gels, small softbox, umbrella, Flexfill and a basic make-up kit; a dynalite case with 1 pack and 2-3 heads; a computer bag with our Mac G4 Ti-Book and portable hard drive; and our camera bag, including 2 flash heads and batteries. Our personal belongings are the smallest bags of all. We can go for months with only a carry-on size bag each.
For proven advice about how to avoid jetlag’s ill effects, e-mail Suzanne at ssalvo@salvophphoto.
JW: What is your procedure for handling travel visas, clearance documents and security checkpoints?
CS: In many places, security measures have been tightened, and getting visas and clearance takes longer than before 9-11. It’s crucial to have all your paperwork in order. In addition to the necessary travel documents, job-site access may also require camera clearance, site permits and safety training documents. These can take longer than country visas to secure! Give yourself plenty of lead-time at security checkpoints and don’t get impatient. We carry a detailed Photo Equipment List with serial numbers for all gear, including our cell phone, laptop and GPS. This has facilitated border crossings, particularly in Third World countries, and it is required by many of the facilities where we shoot.
JW: Your work often takes you to extremely formidable settings and harsh, male-dominated environments. Suzanne, can you provide any insight into how you deal with the personal dynamics of such situations?
SS: Even today, I’m frequently the only woman at work locations like the Sahara Desert or on our recent assignment in the oilfields of southern Iraq. I’m always polite, but I don’t take no for an answer if it’s something I need for a shot. I’m not shy and will seek out and negotiate with anyone who can help me get what I want. In macho-infested areas, I make a point not to draw unnecessary attention. I once met a giggling Australian PR woman on a construction site in equatorial Borneo. She was wearing heavy make-up, high heels and a short skirt – she got lots of attention, but no respect (and no clearances) and she didn’t deserve any.
Read more about “Essential Things Learned on the Road that are Totally Useless at Home”.
JW: Chris, does having Suzanne on the shoot give you an edge in making great pictures? Is this ever a disadvantage?
CS: It’s great having Suzanne with me on the road. She takes care of everything around us, so I can concentrate on the shots. She also has a good eye for details. Disadvantage? Suzanne is my biggest fan and my toughest critic at the same time. She knows my moods – and can tell if I’m not giving 100%.
JW: What happens when the two of you get into a disagreement?
SS: Us, disagree? Never! Actually, it’s only happened once in front of a client, about 16 years ago. Only once, but it was spectacular.
CS: At the end of a hard day when you’re far away from home, being together makes it tolerable. We laugh a lot. And it’s super having someone there to share the experiences.
JW: Thanks so much for your insight and for doing such great work!
Give the Salvos feedback about their work: www.salvophoto.com/feedback.html.