My eager-beaver Pikto Masterclass students wore me out this weekend with their fantastic assignments so my post is going to be brief but informative.

But before we get to that, I have to thank all of the shooters who participated in my inaugural two-part portfolio development session. Also, big thanks to co-instructor, Taxi Art Buyer Anne-Maureen McKeating who chimed in with her two cents and huge props to Johan for all that he and Pikto are doing to offer quality workshops in a beautiful setting. Look for this course to run again in the summer- over two weekends, we’ll review your book and give you an assignment to complete through the week. Kudos to all of our first students who fully embraced their homework and made great strides forward in their work. Better yet, they all confessed to be totally inspired and invigorated by the week of shooting. In action:

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So there’s been a mini Rep Explosion in town and I thought it might be interesting to do a very quick rundown of the new rosters.

2b1 has got what looks to be a huge space downtown, they offer full production services (everything’s in-house) and they rep a motion guy too.

Here’s some lovely from Troy Moth and an intriguing shot from Scott McClellan:

© Troy Moth

© Scott McClelland

We talked to Hermann & Audrey shooter Steve Carty last week. Subtitled “a family affair” these people are tight knit in a good way I think. Joining Steve on the roster are Javier Lovera and Jalani Morgan. Here’s a neat one from Javier:

© Javier Lovera

Rochement Reps has a small stable that includes Nick Simhoni, Michael Kim and Noel Spirandelli. Is he from the states? Here’s a nice one:

© Noel Spin

Sparks Photographers is run by industry veteran and smart cookie Pam Hamilton. After leaving the venerable Westside Studio to rep Motion Directors at Sparks Productions, Pam opened a photography division and immediately filled her roster with a solid list of nice guys: John Cullen, Darrin Klimek, Paul Weeks, Caroline Ryan, Sylvain Dumais and KC Armstrong. I’m a big John Cullen fan, here’s one from him:

© John Cullen

Good luck gang!

I’ve talked about Supercreative before here. Well I’ve got good (albeit belated) news for all you Yanks- this spring the team is going stateside. As of this morning they only had 9 pitches and so they’ve extended the deadline to Monday morning 9am. C’mon. It’s all kinds of fantastic. For more info go here.

Well this is exciting- Jaime and Grant have each been offered complimentary, super premium subscriptions from Adbase! Yay, free stuff!

I’ve always liked what I’ve seen from Adbase in terms of the resources they offer to their clients and the community at large (I’ve been a past podcast guest in their popular Insight series) so I have no problem accepting this support for the blog. As you’ll read, Jaime and Grant are just getting ready to launch a marketing plan so stay tuned to see how they like what Adbase has to offer. Thanks Adbase!

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Grant Harder:

The sun is shining in Vancouver and it’s nice to be back. I’m going to have to make this reasonably quick. Where does the time go?

Today was spent editing images from my trip up north. I love/loath going to the lab to pick up negatives. The rollercoaster ride of emotion can be a bit much at times. Friends, Shea and Ola, came into the lab as I was having a quick look on the light table. My nausea and excitement made it difficult to converse. Did they notice? I’m sure it was all in my head. (My lunch stayed down)

I have been dabbling with my new Adbase subscription. So far their service has been great. The amount of contact information available is slightly overwhelming which probably is all the more reason to create tailored mailing lists and not massive shotgun blasts. I have also been experimenting with my first emailer design and layout. Jaime and I shared a couple of emails earlier in the week regarding how difficult it is to choose one or two images to say everything for you. I’m trying to keep it clean and concise. We’ll see how it goes.

Before I send out the emailer I am going to have some changes made to my website. That should be happening in the next week. It will have the same overall look and feel but with larger images, an option to not have thumbnails and a bunch of new work.

Yesterday I sent away my signed contract to Gallery Stock. I am appreciative and excited for the opportunity to join their roster. Wow- they have some impressive contributors and an equally impressive catalogue. It will be nice to have a home for my more editorial/fine art imagery.

Lastly, next week I am having a get-together to celebrate the release of the March issue of The Walrus. If you are interesting in coming by drop me a line and I can pass on the information. I like meeting new people. Is it a good idea to announce parties on a blog?

© Grant Harder

© Grant Harder

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Jaime Hogge:

Things have cooled off in the work department this week, but I’ve had a lot of catching up to do in computer land. I did do one more shoot for the NFB Highrise project that went pretty well. It was back at our Tibetan musician Amchok’s place for a few more detail shots, Tibetan tea, and some portraits. I was actually surprised to learn that this building is or was overrun with gang activity, as everyone I’d met had been really nice and quite friendly (aside from the security people not enjoying me having a camera there). Anyways, here’s a quick portrait of Amchok from this trip.

© Jaime Hogge

I haven’t done the exact math but I think I’ve shot almost 30 gigs worth in the past two or three weeks. That might not sound like much to some people but keep in mind I shoot with a 1DsMKII so my files aren’t that huge. It’s not so much that I spray and pray, it’s really these NFB projects that eat up the space. I think my favourite aspect of shooting documentary type projects like that are just that there aren’t really any rules to follow, and my job is just to get in there and shoot anything and everything. Of course the downside to this is digging through everything afterwards and trying to piece it together. It’s not that I don’t like actually seeing my results and seeing things come together, I just don’t like sitting in front of a computer for 12 hours at a time.

Another big focus this week for me has been updating my website so I can start sending out some e-promo. A fair chunk of my newer stuff can’t be released until next month, which is kind of a downer, but nevertheless I’ve decided to do a smaller web update, with a larger one to follow next month. While I know it could be annoying for some to receive two email promos from me in the span of six weeks or so, I’m also working on the assumption that if they do click through a lot of the people I’ll be sending to haven’t seen my site at all previously. It does bring up the question however, how frequently should email promos be sent out? They really seem like the quickest and easiest way to update the world of new work or website updates but at the same time with such a high volume of photographers sending them, I can see how they’d be incredibly annoying.

To send out my email promos I’ll be using Adbase as Grant and I were so graciously offered subscriptions a few weeks ago. My experience using it, or any other list service for that matter, is extremely limited. While an assistant I got to do a lot of stuff on the business end of things as well as on set but unfortunately dealing with promos wasn’t one of them. I can honestly say that that doesn’t matter one bit, as they’ve been more than helpful thus far. Alex (our support guy) has been really eager to help with any problems I’ve had such as figuring out what a ‘creative secretary’ is (and no, it’s not a secretary who likes to draw like Pam from the Office). I found it a little overwhelming when creating my lists trying to figure out who should receive my promos and who shouldn’t. Luckily there is a really extensive support section on Adbase that includes a glossary of terms and titles among other great bits of info. Of course, I have yet to send anything out so I haven’t fully made use of the emailer portion of my subscription but so far, so good.

Anyways, it’s back to editing and updating for me. I’ll sign off with another quick portrait of Medcan CEO Shaun Francis from this month’s issue of Financial Post magazine that just came in the mail.

© Jaime Hogge

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The Year in the Life Project follows two junior shooters through their weekly adventures, trying to make a go of it, in the world of commercial photography.

There’s been some talk lately about photographer consultations. Recently Grant asked the question: Is it actually possible to distance yourself enough from your own work to edit properly? Umm… no.

After spending years as an Art Buyer, looking at hundreds of portfolios, I see how hard it is for photographers to edit and compile their own work. Why? You’re too close to it, you see the emotional connection you have with the subject or the project and not what the photograph actually IS. Put another way, here’s a little quote I read on consultant Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua’s blog about 10 minutes ago (and by no means is this quote meant to suggest that kid photography is her only specialty): I’m the perfect person to edit a book of kid images because I am not kid-friendly, so the image has to work for itself. We all bring emotional connection to the table when reviewing work (after all we’re only human) but the guy who shot it brings the memory of the day, the tension on set, etc. etc.

When I give photographer’s advice, I am careful to distinguish my preferences from general (and sound) Art Buyer/Consultant advice.

So I think Photography Consultations can be extremely worthwhile.

But today’s post isn’t to offer my own services but rather to point you in the direction of a couple of other fantastic opportunities to hook up with some consultant advice for free, or nearly free.

The aforementioned Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua is a consultant witha popular blog. Recently she’s launched an assignment-based feature. Each month she broadcasts a photographic challenge to her readers. Submitters will see their work published on her blog along with some critique from herself and others. She’s keeping the tone supportive but constructive. I think that this is a interesting opportunity for those of you without a tight community to share work, discuss it with each other and get real feedback from a seasoned consultant. For more info and to check out this month’s assignment, go here.

Now I think of Selina Maitreya is the mother-of-all consultants. She’s been offering consulting services since way before we had digital backs or websites and she’s been able to keep pace with it all despite the mammoth changes the industry has sustained.

Well now you can enjoy what Selina has to offer from the comfort of your own earbuds! Her most recent initiative is an audio series entitled The View from Here- Selina sent me a free copy and I was very impressed. It’s extremely thorough, easy to understand and is jam packed with tons of information- more than 9 hours worth! Explained on her site:

Selina has been assisting professional photographers of every style and level for nearly three decades. She has brought insight and profitable inspiration to sluggish portfolios and stagnant business plans.

This self study course in a series of MP3 recordings is the edited and refined result of those 30 experience-filled years. Selina could not have created this series 20 years ago, or even 5 years ago — this course is for the photographer working in today’s environment who wants to build a business that will Thrive!

Get this, you can actually download a free 30 minute preview of the series absolutely free!

But wait, there’s more!

Selina has offered her whole audio series (a $199 value) to readers of HMAb for a mere $99 (and, although Selina offered- bless her, I’m not getting any money from this initiative- at this price, I think she should keep it all). Although it doesn’t replace a tailored, one-on-one consultation, this series will go a long way to help you take a strong hand with your images and help you face the considerable challenges of marketing in these crazy times. At $99, the value can’t be overstated.

To take advantage of this fantastic offer, you can go to the HMAb portal (I’ve always wanted my own portal!) where you will find the code: FOSHM and a link to buy the series.

You’ll be glad to know that the persistent threat of “I’m too busy” (which hangs over this blog like the Sword of Damocles) has turned into a call to action. I’ve roped the illustrious Anne-Maureen McKeating, who oversees Art Buying at Taxi, into helping me in an ongoing fashion with AanAB. She’s a firecracker and I’m sure she’ll bring some of that sass with her to the virtual office.

Anne-Maureen’s been a friend to photographers for a long time, moving into Art Buying 5 years ago from a post as producer with Instil productions. Prior to that she was a rep, an integrated producer and a waitress at the Horseshoe back in the day. Welcome Anne-Mo.

Today’s question comes from Calgary shooter Chris Sattlegger, who’s blog and site are unfortunately undergoing some technical difficulties. Here’s a shot from Chris:

© Chris Sattlegger

I was curious about questions to ask creative directors and art directors when meeting to view my portfolio, i was wondering if you had any questions that have been asked of you as an art buyer when you are looking at work that piqued your interest in the individual. some questions would seem unthought out, like “what have you been doing lately in regards to client work”- that is what the website is for and would make one seem detached from the market.

would it be rude to ask something like, “who have you used for creatives before?”

ALSO, i had a question about websites in a small market. As an individual, i have been focusing on creating a printed book (no plastic sleeves…) and have created a website that is more of a contact area with a blog where I don’t elucidate on every day musings, but just upload photos that i’ve been doing lately, that have been categorized.

without an online portfolio, i see my website as more of a place to stick around and see what i’ve been doing lately, after all- in a smaller market, i’d rather drive to meet someone and show them a book than point them to a website that is not up to date. In the future i plan to include an expanded area for my portfolio, once i’ve gained more work experience where I can showcase my “proof of delivery”.

do you think that this is a good idea? I seem to be alone with the thought at the moment. the blog gives me a place where I can have contact with clients or visitors on a more web 2.0, very up to date way. afterall, i can show my twitter updates and my recent bookings as well as new work that i find interesting all in one place.

Anne-Maureen’s answer:

Chris, the best guidance I can give in regards to your first question is to “be yourself”. While I realize that “being yourself” can be harder than what it should be, coming into a meet and greet with a fixed set of questions and expectations can only lead to awkwardness and disappointment. Relax. This is not to suggest that you come to a meeting unprepared - you need to know your audience. Go to the agency’s website and peruse their client list and portfolio of work. What has your target agency/art buyer/art director/editor done that piques your interest? How do you see your work fitting in with their vision? Enquire about the AD’s creative process – how does that process mesh with yours? I would stay away from questions regarding who is shooting what creative - I’m not sure what purpose those kinds of questions serve outside of the need to compare, which in never healthy. When you find an Art Director and/or Buyer/Editor with whom you click, make sure you nurture that relationship (within reason) – it’s a big part of career building.

Regardless of your market size, www means “world wide” web - your site can be viewed beyond your own backyard. Portfolios have migrated online so your website must be treated as something other than storage for outdated imagery. Often an agency will award a job without calling in a book. For example, when an AD sends me a layout, we discuss style, emotional tone and production values. I will send the AD a number of websites showcasing the work of the photographers best suited for the job. Once we have settled on a recommendation (and know that the photographer is interested and available), the appropriate imagery is culled from the photographer’s site and presented to the client in a deck for their approval. Sometimes the book is called in, sometimes it isn’t.

However… a printed portfolio must also be a part of your marketing package. It should contain up to twenty examples of your best imagery. Pay attention to ordering and flow. You want the viewer to stop and engage with your work in a tactile, thoughtful and memorable way. Most agencies have an area where portfolios can be displayed so be prepared to leave your portfolio with an Art Buyer or Art Director for a few days.

In Summery:
Nurture but don’t pester
If you keep your website fresh, you will be bookmarked and revisited
Be thoughtful with your printed work - it is your opportunity to seduce

Also… call first. Agencies and magazines are busy places. All the best Chris!

And thanks to both of you.

Daniel Ehrenworth has just sent me a wonderful period piece he recently shot for Driving.ca. These attempts at Retro can fail so miserably but I think Daniel and his gang have done a bang up job. From the styling to the look of the film (and the adorable font) these images really look authentic.

Was Daniel even alive in the 70’s?

© Daniel Ehrenworth

© Daniel Ehrenworth

© Daniel Ehrenworth

And the credit goes to:

Client: Canwest / Driving.ca
Agency: Smith Roberts Creative Communications
CDs: Malcolm Roberts, Brian Smith
AD: Jenny Luong
Copy: Dave Barber
Wardrobe/Sets/Props: Stephanie Saunders (Judy Inc.)
Hair/MUA: Sabrina Rinaldi (Judy Inc.)
Catering: Loic (hehehe…and everyone loved it!)

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Last weekend I taught the first part of my Portfolio Masterclass session at Pikto. Huge thank you to special guest star Anne-Maureen McKeating (Art Buyer at Taxi) who brought her droolable photobook collection and another set of Art Buying eyes. Without question, these students are getting their money’s worth.

Anywhoo, I not only gave them each some assignments for this week (this was part of the class- for more about the course, go here) I also asked them to assign me some homework, which I am now passing on to you. I know someone will have the answers to these queries and likely the rest of you would like to hear them. So please consider sharing your experiences (anonymously is fine if you’re a shy Canadian):

1. Micro-sites (ie. Finn O’Hara’s Moment Before): How long to these stay up, when do you retire ‘em?

2. Marketing budget: How much on average might you spend on your marketing per year- ideally I’m hearing from shooters just making their first big push into the commercial world, not those of you who are at the peak of your game.

3. Portfolio suppliers- both the books and the pages. Where do you find that nice matte paper and adhesive hinges etc?

Many thanks, clever readers.

© David Hockney

As I try to crack the nut that is the still/motion convergence (the strength of the single image vs (or alongside) the ability to show motion) I am rereading the introduction to David Hockney’s Cameraworks. Written by Lawrence Weschler, it conveys several conversations between the author and the artist. Let’s ponder some images and then some choice excerpts from the introduction:

© David Hockney

© David Hockney

… Hockney began making what he referred to as “Joiners.”… “At first I was just going through all this because the result, the depiction of the particular subject, came out looking clearer and more true to life than a single wide-angle version of the same subject… However, fairly early on I noticed that these joiners also had more presence than ordinary photographs. With five photos, for instance, you were forced to look five times. You couldn’t help but look more carefully.”

“My main argument was that a photograph couldn’t be looked at for a long time. Have you noticed that?” Hockney led me back into the studio and picked up a magazine, thumbing through randomly to an ad, a photograph of a happy family picknicking on a hillside green “See? You can’t look at most photos for more than, say, thirty seconds. It has nothing to do with the subject matter. I first noticed this with erotic photographs, trying to find them lively: you can’t. Life is precisely what they don’t have- or rather, time, lived time. All you can do with most ordinary photographs is stare at them- they stare back, blankly- and presently your concentration begins to fade. They stare you down. I mean, photography is all right if you don’t mind looking at the world form the point of view of a paralysed cyclops- for a split second. But that’s not what it’s like to live in the world, or to convey the experience of living in the world.”

Hockney began composing his polaroid collages in the early 1980’s.

“From that first day” Hockney recalls, “I was exhilarated. First of all, I immediately realized I’d conquered my problem with time in photography. It takes time to see these pictures- you can look at them for a long time, they invite that sort of looking. But, more importantly, I realized that this sort of picture came closer to how we actually see, which is to say, not all-at-once but rather in discrete, separate glimpses which we then build up into our continuous experience of the world. Looking at you now… there are a hundred separate looks across time from which I synthesize my living impression of you.”

In Hockney’s new portraits, Weschler explains, “(the subjects show a) living relationship: it’s living right there before your eyes”. It is a still image that shows time passing. This is different than “moving images” which also, and in this case literally, can’t be looked at for longer than a split second.

Oddly enough, much like digital photography now, Hockney was able to see his collage take shape as he shot it because he was using Polaroids. As he shot his subject, he would arrange the fixing SX-70s and see what needed to be adjusted as he went along. Eventually he stopped working with Polaroid and began using regular film.

“I decided to do a study of an ice skater.” Hockney recalls, “and I invited a skater friend to join me at a rink in New York City. I watched him for some time, and I noticed something very odd: you never see the blur. The convention of the blur comes from photography, it’s what happens when motion is compressed onto a chemical plate. We’ve seen so many photos of blurs that we now think we actually see them in the world But look some time: you don’t. At every instant the rapidly spinning skater is distinct. And I wanted somehow to convey this combination of speed and clarity.” The resultant collage has a lot of spin- legs flying, skates scraping, shirt billowing, head turning, arms rising, everything converging on and moving out from the focused center, the waist- but no blur…. A series of studies Hockney undertook a few days later… proved both simpler and more successful… the entire piece reads as one carefree casual gesture- a toss-off.

© David Hockney

In our frenetic world, does it matter if an image will only hold our attention for a few seconds? That photographs can’t fully convey the experience of living in the world?

Jaime Hogge:

It’s cold, it’s depressing, the Leafs can’t win a game, but I’m busy and that makes it all okay. My post might be a little long this week so my apologies, there’s just lots to talk about. My busy streak continued with 3 shoots in the bag and one more coming up to round out the week.

First off the stuff I shot for Maclean’s magazine a couple weeks ago should be on newsstands by the time you’re reading this. For my first assignments with them I was shooting a really young jazz singer by the name of Nikki Yanofsky backstage at one of her recent shows. She sings the “theme song” for the Olympics so this was pretty neat. Here are a couple samples.

© Jaime Hogge

© Jaime Hogge

Things got going this week on Sunday doing another shoot for the NFB and their Highrise project. This time we were in a Parkdale area high rise with an extremely nice Tibetan musician and his family. It was a pretty small space to shoot in but overall the results were pretty good. We’re also going to head back again on Friday to get some more stuff as well as some portraits which I’m really looking forward to. One thing that really amazed me was how four people living in a tiny apartment could get along so well and be so close. There are so many upper and middle class families here that can’t keep it together and it was really a nice thing to see. I also got to try Tibetan food for the first time, which was amazing, and I’m not usually crazy about strange foods I’ve never had before. Seriously, go find a recipe for ‘Momo’. We had the beef version and they were great. Apparently the yak version are the best, but yak just doesn’t seem to be that popular in grocery stores around here. Conveniently enough I did manage to get a shot of a tiny yak they had in their living room.

© Jaime Hogge

Next up I had a meeting at the NFB in regards to the Highrise project. I got to see a lot of the puzzle pieces put together as well as a bunch of content from around the world. I’m really amazed and really excited to be a part of this project, especially now that I’ve seen it all coming together. It’s still some ways away from being finished, but it’s really looking great and everyone involved seems really into it, and that makes it even more exciting.

My other two shoots thus far this week were for Financial Post magazine; two location portraits on opposite ends of the GTA. I had a student from Humber along with me as part of his internship for these shoots; it’s something I haven’t really dealt with that much before. I have to say that what he lacked in experience he made up for in eagerness and it was a welcome change. To start things off we were shooting a portrait at the Canadian Forces College. We were in a bit of a crunch for time but we managed to get into the auditorium for a few minutes to shoot, a definite change from the closed confines of an office. Next we were off to a tennis club for the second portrait. It was a little scary at first as the scenery wasn’t very nice but we were eventually allowed to pick a new spot and from there things went smoothly. In the end I managed to only get hit twice with tennis balls with no bruises to show for it so all in all it was a decent shoot and the magazine are really happy with the images which makes things all the better.

Now I’m just trying to squeeze in some editing time before getting ready to get back out there tomorrow. I’m sore, I’m tired, my brain is mush, and the Leafs probably won’t win this weekend (Brodeur AND Luongo!), but I’m happy that the wheels are in motion.

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Grant Harder:

I have been a magazine junkie for quite some time and I have this thing I do every time I am in an airport looking at the magazine rack. I think about how great it would be to see my photos from a previous job on the front cover of a magazine while I am on route to another job. There is something in the cyclical nature of this that’s appealing. Well, a few days ago while in the Vancouver airport, it actually happened. As Heather mentioned last week The Walrus is running four different covers, using my images, for their March issue. It was a perfect way to see all four for the first time in print form. I was thrilled one of my best friends was with me. Vince bought all four covers/issues and we had just enough time before our flight to Prince George for a couple of celebratory beverages. Perfect. A big thanks has to go out to Bree and Brian at The Walrus for the opportunity…and to Vancouver for accommodating me (putting up with me?) for the time I was working on this project. Go here to read a bit about the feature and here’s a screen grab from The Walrus website:

© Grant Harder

So yea, I am up in The P-dot G-dot using all available contacts and connections to help my ACTION themed series come together. The POOR BUT SEXY deadline is Feb. 10th which seems far off in the future….unless you need time to process, edit and scan and you don’t want to pay rush charges. It’s all good though and things are falling into place. I have taken this opportunity of creative freedom to try some new things and to get myself in unfamiliar shooting situations. I am looking forward to seeing the results.

Being away this week and assisting all of last week means there will be a bunch of things to catch up on once I get back to Vancouver. There’s only 11 months left in 2010! Speaking of 2010, I wish someone in town would be able to let the rest of us know if there is going to be any work going on during the Olympics. With so much happening you would think it would mean the photo industry would be in full swing…you would think. I know some are taking a forced (?) vacation. That’s not a viable option for me. Bring on the work. The potential downtime may provide a perfect opportunity to take care of a bunch of office, marketing and website stuff that needs to happen in the near future.

That’s all for now. See you back in Vancouver.

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The Year in the Life Project follows two junior shooters through their weekly adventures, trying to make a go of it, in the world of commercial photography.

Last week I received not one but two book promotions from photographers. Allison V. Smith’s came first and, strictly speaking, it isn’t a book at all but rather the fourth volume of her Zine. In the short but sweet introduction she explains:

All the photographs in Zine 4, Can you Hear me Now? were shot with my iPhone. I was never a fan of the camera phone until the iPhone. Puleaze- use your real camera, I would say. Now I’ll grab it before my Hasselblad. OK, I know that’s a bad habit and trust me, I won’t ditch my red Hasselblad even for the fanciest iPhone. But my iPhone is just simple and convenient. It does not hang around my neck or need film. It’s instant and ready to share. What’s not to love? All of these photos were shot in 2009, on assignment, in the air, on the road, at friends’ homes and out my kitchen window. Some were shot in Maine, lots were shot in Texas and the rest in between.. or in California.

They are just superficial snapshots.

Here are some superficial snapshots of Zine 4:

© Allison V. Smith

© Allison V. Smith

© Allison V. Smith

© Allison V. Smith

This little number certainly did the trick (or at least A trick, or part of the trick)- it drove me to her site.

Also, big props to the handlettering- a nice little addition. Well done Will Bryant, I checked out your site too and it really really rocks. Attention Art Buyers looking for handlettering- this guy’s got it down (and apparently he married young and needs the paycheques- thanks to blog linkage for that odd fact).

The other book that landed on my front step came from local shooter Steve Carty and is entitled Positives. Steve sent along a lovely note too which reads in part:

It would be quite easy to rant on about so many negative things about the current state of the industry, but that’s not really my style. All I know how to do is to be positive. I try to inspire a few and maybe make a little mark of my own within this arena of contemporary photography. I’m just straight up with my attitude and approach to making pictures.

Steve also mentioned in the note that he wanted the book to give to people who “I feel may have heard of me, but maybe, don’t have a good enough sense of what I am actually doing to really make an accurate impression.”

Now, I am a fan of less-is-more in a photographer’s portfolio but at about 140 pages, I think Steve’s book is a notable exception to this preference and I think it also speaks to my other thesis- that the role of the portfolio/book is changing dramatically. There are some fantastic images in here and given Steve’s relatively narrow content concentration (celebrity, entertainment, some fashion), he has strongly positioned himself as a guy who can get these shots any which way. It seems almost old-school to see some many different lighting styles represented (high-key, B&W, natural defused, direct sunlight etc.) but it works.

Steve’s assumption about me was right- I had heard of him but I didn’t have a good sense of what he did. Now I do. And, in his case, showing me so much imagery in this book really gave me a comprehensive picture of his talent and interest. Plus, it’s well printed, sized and laid out.

Let’s take a look:

© Steve Carty

© Steve Carty

© Steve Carty

© Steve Carty

© Steve Carty

© Steve Carty

I asked Steve about his decision to produce this book, how he distributed it and how it has been received.

i self published and released my first book last may, to coincide with contact. i was showing at the jerome jenner gallery with jamel shabazz and che kothari, the show was called 3 generations of urban portraiture. shabazz is the forefather of urban portraits and guys like him made it easier for me to come up with a different style, primarily shooting hasselblad, gave me a separation from the others that were shooting “urban portraits”.

my aim was to keep this hardcover to a limited run of 500. i did the first 100 and sold them at the closing party of my show. i had presold about 20 copies before the book came out and sold another 40 during the month of june. i had to sell 55 copies at $120 per copy to make my quota which i did by june 30th. from that point, the hard cover sold maybe a copy or 2 per week, just through online sales on my website and through word of mouth and people coming by the studio and of course twitter. for most of the year, i used this book as my portfolio, and showed it to a few agencies and magazines, i could have shown it more. all that see it recieve it well although i haven’t gotten any bangers. although i have quoted on a lot. i’m undecided whether i will do more runs of this book, but i will do another run of 100 of some other content this year and every year. the over all impact of having a book or having several is huge and self publishing is the way. i’m all over it. i do all the layout, design and print sourcing. my actual physical fashion book also looks like this, in status.

on to the soft cover. i decided to run a smaller soft cover to sell some for a cheaper price, i lowered my hardcover price to $100 once i made my quota, and my softcover sells for $60. i’m choosing 10 key people in toronto to give them to that i believe have the influence to say the words that will at least make some people look. maybe they’ll watch a behind the scenes video or an interview and hear a bit about what i have to say. that list of giveaways may grow, which is fine, the books are bought and paid for, all i need is for more eyes to see it. i just got these soft covers so you are the first. more are going out this week.

those that know me, seem to always use me. i did the winners account back in 1999 for 2 years with rob lawrence from fcb. i shot the last eatons catalogue that never got printed during their bankruptcy times, which would have helped me much if it actually came out. i got crushed by the world trade 9/11 business, didn’t work for almost 5 months, lost my studio, took about 2 years to come back up in profile. shooting pharrell and some of the other famous faces around that time helped bring me out of that lull in work.

i do work for some magazines in the US, anntenna, scratch and a few others, i often get hired to shoot celebs when they are in town via publicists and through cbc for film fest. i’ve shot film fest for cbc for the last 5 years, although last year they pulled out on coverage. i have a 1600 sqft studio on king w and portland and it’s very nice for clients and gets recieved well. business has been good since i moved here. i share with some of my past apprentices, javier lovera and jalani morgan. i was photography school for both of them and 2 more since them.

overall, i feel like i’m underutilized. i’m super enthusiastic, i feel very strong in my visual signature. i just feel people may write me off without even knowing my work because of the catch 22 of not being seen in too many canadian magazines, which on a global curve, don’t get much attention as it is. just did a nice run with naked eye magazine of shooting 5 issues in a row. not bad for a quarterly. but still, i feel like i’ve been on the brink for way way too long.

i’ve been shooting since i was 14. i went to a high school that had photography from grade 10. i did well. i decided to go to ryerson after a year off which i used to test my first agency models and work as a manager at blacks. at ryerson learned from bill scanlon and john solovski, who taught walter chin and struan that i had all the tools to do this, i just had to go do it. i got my hasselblad in 1991 brand new, my first studio in 1992 when i was 22. i’ve lived in miami early in my career for a year and i’ve spent time in new york, i was represented there for 3 years and i am still on contour photos roster although i have yet to renew my contract. diminishing sales and 50% commission was a bit painful.

this year i vowed to shoot hasselblad and digital and begin my development as a director and travel a bit. hard with a young family. so all of those things are in motion. i also have always felt my name is out there, i’m trying hard to get eyes to actually look at the work.

Thanks to Steve for being so forthcoming with info about this venture.

At this point, there is room for this type of uber-book promotion. Remember: he gives it away selectively and then sells it at his own gallery show- ensuring that he makes his money back on the latter to fund the former.

Thanks for the book Steve- let us know how this works for you in the long term. And for more about the future of Photobooks, check the indepth reportage generated by the livebooks blog Resolve (and follow their links forward and back from this post- lots here to peruse).

Maybe it’s because I’m low blood sugar but I’m feeling nostalgic.

Maybe it’s because I’m listening to an album that I purchased the day it was released and that was a time when I was spending a lot of time in my apartment darkroom. I am the type of person that can listen to an album, hell, a song! over and over again.

Maybe it’s because I’m tired and I’m listening to that album right now and so I’m feeling nostalgic (oh film, oh film!).

Maybe it’s because every night I sit down to write and sometimes it’s harder than others. And tonight it’s hard and I don’t want to write about the Arianna Huffington talk I heard this afternoon. (Someone, please tell me why Advertising Week Toronto doesn’t have a blog or at least a well populated Twitter Feed? No social media component to an Advertising Festival? Hunh?)

And every night I have emails to answer and sort and process. And tonight an email from Mike Mabes was up in the queue and he said:

My friend Elias sent me a link to your site saying you would like my work.
I was looking at your site and i liked it. My name is Michael Mabes and i am a photographer from Chile and U.S
I will link you to a selection in my site. Hope you enjoy

Maybe it’s the low blood sugar but I found this email pretty amusing- I don’t know who Elias is but he was right. I did like Mike’s work. And the combo of the music, and the nostalgia and these pictures is just what I need tonight. Maybe you do too. This selection is from a series called People and Moments Of Architecture:

© Mike Mabes

© Mike Mabes

© Mike Mabes

© Mike Mabes

© Mike Mabes

© Mike Mabes