How many times have you done it? Opened a magazine, looked at a friends wedding photos, seen a advertisement, glanced over an editorial and thought I am just as good, if not better then this photographer.
Be honest, its ok no one is watching I swear...:) We have all done it, seen someone’s work being spoken about, paraded around and even praised while we sit and think "I can do that too, why aren’t I getting written about?"..."how do I get that recognition?".
Im thinking it right now, but ill spare you the details of that. The thing about photography is you can be the best in the world, you can produce awesome images day in and day out but the truth is people are not going to go out of their way to find you. If all you do is take photos and hope someone will notice your massive amount of talent you will be better of waiting on the beach for Harold Holt to return from his swim.
Photography is so much more then the photographs you take. The reason why a lot of photographers who are good, but not outstanding get so much exposure is because they are smart across the board. That isn’t to say all photographers who get exposure are not amazing, there are plenty of outstanding photographers who get their dues when it comes to recognition. Photographers who get the most exposure from their work is not because the opportunity falls into their laps because their work demands it, rather its because they know about things like marketing and PR. Networking and in a lot of cases just the right people.
So how do you make this happen for you? Well there isn’t an easy answer, and I know in some cases it might seem more who you know instead of what you know, and this can be true but the people with the contacts had to make them somehow, so why cant you?
First things first, Identify who or what you want to be identified and seen with, then devise a plan to get in contact with them. In my case having my photos published in a wedding magazine as an editorial is great exposure and doesn’t have to cost me anything. Magazines like this love to hear about true stories, so I get my clients to contact the wedding magazine themselves and with some gentle guidance try and get their wedding published as a "real wedding story" of course giving credit to me as the photographer and boom! Instead of paying massive $$$ for a one page ad I have a multi page spread for nothing!
Of course this may not suit everybody, perhaps your into commercial or fine art, or some other genre of the endless limitations that photography offers. To try and build your exposure you need to build your contacts. Join an organisation like the AIPP; along with photographers the AIPP also has industry companies as part of their "trade affiliates" who are not usually photographers per say but have a vested interest in the industry, examples include magazines and suppliers. Go to these events and meet with these people, don’t be afraid to talk shop and bring up how you might be able to help each other. Be tactful about it, get names, numbers and business cards. Go in with some kind of plan, who do you want to talk to and what about. Whose number do you want to leave with? Sounds like you’re trying to pick someone up at a night club, and it kind of is, do it right and you will have the details of someone you may be able to jump into bed with later on, do it wrong and you will get the cold shoulder!
Want to get your work exposed but think gallery exhibitions are reserved for the known and established? You would be wrong. There are plenty of mini Galleries around, often as apart of a cafe or something that you can pay to put your own exhibition on, some will even just ask for a commission from your print sales in order for you to put a exhibition on. So get a collection together, something that means something or has a theme, as some halls may ask to see your images first and if they look random or just like a bunch of photos you pulled out, they may turn you away. But having something prepared shows you have thought about it and have something to say. Organise invitations, drinks food and throw yourself and opening night party for your exhibition. Dont be afraid to invite people you think will be beneficial to your career. Even if you think they wont come, if you send out 10 invites to your potential targets and one shows up, that’s one more contact you could make that night just by talking to them at your own exhibition, and if their there they will obviously be a little interested in you and will want to chat to you.
So if your photos are amazing but no one is talking about them, perhaps you need to ask yourself what you are bringing to your photography that is not photography.
