What Goes Around Comes Around
[by Barry Schwartz]
All business is personal – especially when you work for yourself. I’ve never forgotten something I heard Blake Discher say in one of his fantastic seminars, that when he tracked views on his website, his personal work was the only gallery where viewers typically looked at every picture.
I had just recently removed my entire gallery of personal work. Even knowing that I might not have the same results – hey, I’m not Blake – I quickly put it right back with different pictures. I remembered all the times I had heard photo buyers and editors talk about how they liked their jobs because they got to look at great work and were eager to find photographers who had a distinctive voice.
I made the link (finally!) but thought it’s not going to do me much good if my personal work doesn’t suggest what I can do on assignment.
I had previously showed a bunch of “fine-art” style photos in my personal gallery, mostly highly abstract, non-representational images. It made me feel good to see them but they were not much help for a potential client to gauge how they related to my commercial work. So I added images that would.
I also began to slip a few “ringers” into my commercial galleries, such as the tight detail shots I often take because, well, I just can’t help myself. I like that sorta stuff despite the fact my clients almost never pick them for themselves. However, a photo editor who recently hired me mentioned one picture of mine that she particularly liked, a closeup of a light fixture.
Like most photographers, I have scads of shots taken for my own pleasure, amusement, edification, and experimentation. Whenever I walk my dog off-leash, I carry a camera. I have more pictures of rock walls than I know what to do with. I keep a camera in the car everywhere I go.
Most important, making personal pictures keeps me from getting tired of myself and keeps my eye fresh, which feeds into my commercial work, which gets me jobs where I can indulge myself with a more personal take, put those images on my website and get hired by clients who are looking for a personal voice.
What goes around comes around.
Barry Schwartz is a photographer, writer, and designer in Los Angeles who actually has far more pictures of his dogs than rock walls.
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[...] What Goes Around Comes Around at Strictly BusinessIt's very important in any business for our clients to know us as humans. I generally sell myself, not so much the photography that I provide. While you still have to have a good product, getting clients to know, like, and trust you is just as important. [...]