A Losers Guide to Photography: Identifying the Identity

Today I was talking with a popular photographer, Neil Kremer, about my future in photography. We discussed several topics ranging from: 

• industries that make money
• creating a 'you' style so a creative director can recognize your work 
• photography business stuff

I really want to talk about my target audience and my 'style'. 

Identifying Your Target Audience

I have thought extensively about who makes the money in fashion. Aside from a few fashion photographers who are outliers and should be case studies for how to be a successful fashion photographer, there isn't a future in fashion photography. Neil confirmed my belief with his immediate interruption during my pontification of what I like to shoot. Magazines don't pay. Models don't pay. Designers don't pay, although they benefit the most. The market is completely saturated with fashion photographers who are all shooting the same stuff the same way. The only reason a photographer should shoot fashion/editorial is to expand their portfolio/network. Any hope of making money in fashion/editorial should wait until the market becomes desaturated. 

The main industry that's paying a lot of money is the ad industry. Corporate ads seem to offer a lot for aspiring and established photographers.

Creating Your Identity

I don't want to speak in absolutes because I don't exactly know what to do and I am thinking in the most logical way. I will have a lot of I thinks.

This is something I am still struggling with. I find this task to be daunting because there are so many options. It's overwhelming. On top of the plethora of options, I am not, by nature, a creative person. I don't have a creative tongue. The words I speak do not jive with other creatives. 

I am going to do my best to describe what I feel like my style is or what I want my style to be. Let me identify what I enjoy shooting the most:

• fashion
• people(s)
• places
• studio(s)

I think my subjects give me a lot of  leeway. I'm pretty fortunate I enjoy all of these because I feel like this meshes perfectly with Neil's style. So emulating Neil, while challenging, will be much easier (of course I am going to regret saying this). 

I think the next logical step is to identify several editing styles I like. This is important because it creates consistency within your own work. If you follow too many editing practices then you lose your identity. It becomes harder to recognize your art without consistency. You want a creative director or editor to look at your photo and be able to piece together your name. You want your name to be on the tip of their tongue. 

I rested on the idea that there must be more than two steps: identifying your subjects, and identifying your style. I think the next course of action is to put everything you learned from your dissection to practice. Rent a studio with lighting. Find models/actors (I have heard people getting better results with authenticity with actors more so than models). Find a reliable make-up artist. Find a hair artist. Utilizing a creative director can help the uninitiated. Keep everything really simple at first and then each time create more complicated setups. This will force you to get out of your comfort zone. You will learn more about the responsibilities of each contributing role. You will learn more about lighting and creating a set. You will learn about when to utilize a studio or nature. You will learn how to properly light and, most importantly, plan for lighting. 

Breaking Down Your Style

A coworker of mine make a good point today (3/17) - it's not only important to identify the broad style, but you also have to identify what about each style you like. I am going to break down each style I enjoy to figure out what I like about each one. This will take time to build out and I will be expanding upon this over the upcoming weeks.

Extra Stuff

Goal:

Identify two or three large companies and create a pseudo-ad campaign for them. The campaign needs to tell a story and be shocking/impactful. The message needs to be clear and concise; there needs to be intent with every component of the photo. 

Homework 1:

Identify four photographers who you admire. Reverse engineer their photographic style and lighting. Replicate their work.

Homework 2:

Find three photographers who's styles resonate with you. Identify the components of their style you like most and write them down. 

I will continually add more to this post the more I learn.

Also, if you have anything you'd like to share or if I am wrong (after all, this is The Losers Guide to Photography) please share in the comments below.

Idea Expansion(s) Below:

Fashion

What about fashion do I really like? 

I like the ludicrousness of some of the designs. I like how outlandish the clothing designs can be. A good designer can tell a story with their clothes. I think a good designer paired with pictorialism can help tell a story about the scene/product. Fashion helps exacerbate the atmosphere of the image and is heavily complimented with the location.

People

Places

Studio