Portfolios - Part II
Written on November 30, 2007
So I’ve gotten a few more emails on this topic, from the actual portfolio itself, to what goes inside it.
It’s hard for me to comment on what should go inside your portfolios if I haven’t seen your work. Obviously. Regarding the subject matter that should go into portfolios…for example, portraiture and landscape in the same? Or a book of portraits and a book of landscapes? Editorial and advertising…or keep it separate? A book of personal work?
I can’t say until I’ve seen the work. There are no rights or wrongs here. I will say as an agent, personal work is always great, and important to show, but we really like to send out work that’s been commissioned.
One of the first jobs I had in the business was working at a small, boutique photography agency. The owner had himself and an assistant…I was his first new hire in literally a decade. He never represents more than 5 to 6 photographers at a time. He is, I hesitate to use the phrase because it may sound demeaning, “old school” but he is an excellent agent who still understands the business and frankly made a lot of money. His mentor was Irving Penn’s old agent, so you get an idea of the lineage involved here!
He took on young photographers, built them up editorially until they started making the big bucks, and he did it over and over again. One of the first things I learned from him is what makes a good portfolio. A good portfolio tells many stories, flows well in both subject matter and to the eye, and overall it makes sense.
I don’t know how else to say it, but again, common sense should always prevail.
Now, the portfolios themselves. I see a lot of books. I never look at what they’re made of, unless it’s something particularly annoying, which I’ll duly note and think, “What an idiot”. I look at the images. Your book can be red leather, black leather, brown leather, white waxskin, blue plastic…whatever it is, if it looks nice then that’s fine. That’s great.
Make good prints (can’t go wrong with Epson prints), spend more money on sleeves than the actual books if you use sleeves, and if you use double-sided prints, fantastic, but keep in mind they will rub together, a lot. You have to realise that your books are meant to be beaten up. They go out in all types of weather, in bags or Fedex boxes, they get thrown around and if you don’t lose a single portfolio over the course of your career then you made a deal with the devil. I understand if you get attached to your nice, new, clean and pristine portfolios, but really, DON’T.
If you’re spending over a thousand dollars to make a portfolio (and just the portfolio, never mind the prints) then remember that that’s $500 less towards your own digital equipment.
Hope that helps.
Filed in: Talent, Photo Agency.
Debate rages among smart people who want to know how many pages are too many. Please smartly settle it.
This is my take: personal work is great unless it gets soooo personal that the prospective client can’t relate to it. “what the hell am I suppose to do with this?” is not the response you want. That may make for a more “boring” portfolio but I always try to hit the target between the eyes.
Also - I do my best to leave a strong impression in the prospect’s mind of what it is that I do. Stake out some mind space in your prospect’s head. Once you mix landscapes with portraits for example, you will start to hear, “what do like shooting the most?”. Then starts the dance. Uhhhh, I like the variety, I think I do both well, and my clients often ask for both …. blah, blah, blah. Stay true to your brand.
“…and if you use double-sided prints, fantastic, but keep in mind they will rub together…”
I hear contradictory ideas on the double page layout so I want to throw the question out there..
Back to back filled pages? Or single page images only on the right side (accept for double trucked images)?
What is preferred? And does anybody see more of a preference for one or the other based on genre (say fashion clients vs. commercial ad clients)?
Market can make a huge difference as well. I know that the level of personal I would show in LA for instance is certainly not the images I would show in Phoenix or Salt Lake. (sure, there are anomalies of great people in those towns… but they are, uh, anomalies.)
That is why several books are definitely necessary if you are in a smaller market trying to work into a larger market.
BTW… I love this blog…
I have more than one book and show what I think they may be interested in. My personal work is mainly images shot while I travel during work, so its different from my portrait work. But I have been thinking about making another mixed book with portraits, music, and personal work.
Its hard to tell sometimes what someone is interested in seeing, I’ve left my portrait book sometimes and then had feedback that that person likes seeing personal work too. I was told last week by an editor that they don’t mind what the personal work is, they just like to know that the photographer does it and its not all about ‘work’.
There really is no right or wrong I think……
Michael
I’m just putting the finishing touches to my ‘folio and I’ve decided to ignore all my news material, portraits and everything else and just show my personal work, or rather, my personal favorites as several are from assignments.
I use the domain, Photohumorist.com and so I’ve decided to use that as my brand and show work accordingly.
I’ve been at this since 1992 and for the last while have been out of the game looking after my young sons and so I was in a dilemma trying to figure out what to show in a folio of 40 odd images. It became quite clear as I progressed through my work that I should go with the wit and to hell with everything else. I thought, editors are saturated with fine news images and mine are not going to make an impression. However, my quirky shots might. They are entirely my own and so that is all I’ve got to make an impression.
Figure out what you do that sets you apart and forget the images that will simply mirror what editors have already seen time and again.
My folio will be an inexpensive saddle stitched 7.5″ square book with a soft cover of double truck images. Soft cover so that it’s flickable. I’ve found that people tend to linger over my shots but upon reaching the end want to quickly flick through again. It’s all about the tactile experience, is it not?
I’m new to this blog and will be back.
I used to do the hard Ilford boards, Epson printed, in a Century box. It was impossible to keep pages from going missing. I then went to Lost Luggage books which was a total waste of money; expensive, dated, ill engineered, heavy and sharp. I have now gone to custom 11×17 landscape books; I have a mix of personal and work related images in both but they are “separate” topics. They don’t go out of my sight. I travel with them and don’t make appointments that I don’t get to see the AD/CD. If when I arrive they aren’t available I’ll leave a classy Epson printed sumo card. I’m going to be putting the Lost Luggage books back into circulation because they fit in a Fedex box and I’m not that attached to them. Those books will be reprinted with double sided pages with no sleeves. I have found it makes a world of difference being with the books when first opened, period.
On the other topic of what to put in the books; I had my books seen by half a dozen reps here in LA and all of them “loved” the images but had no idea how to sell me. “Where do you feel you fit in the market?” was the question I was constantly asked. I’ve been walking those same books around the UK and haven’t left a single office without hearing, “you’d be perfect for xxxxx campaign” and they stripe me of every promo piece I have with me.