Comments (0) School’s in Session…
My ICP class started last night. It was sweet. Ray Brown, the super agent who also owns Hudson Studios, the best in NY, was generous enough to let me have the class there. Ray and Laura Beckwith spoke about the business side of photography, what a photographer needs to do to be competitive in todays market (which, my fellow shooters, is VIDEO VIDEO VIDEO!!!), how to get started, how to put a portfolio together, the different agency jobs and what they mean (art director, creative director, account executive, etc), the need to know your market and create a niche for yourself, and the agent-photographer relationship. Ray and Laura showed portfolios of their photographers’ source books (Le Book, Black Book, etc), and talked about fee and percentages. They provided the class with a wealth of knowledge. The students were so impressed and grateful and so was I. During the talk it was revealed that some photographers let their assistants take the picture, which, quite frankly, surprised me, since its something I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing. The reason being the photographers who practice this think of themselves as directors, and having done both film and still myself, in my opinion, still is about capturing a moment. Therefore its the person who’s clicking the shutter at the precise moment of the capture that determines that “shot”, that “single shot.” Film keeps rolling, so you can set up a shot, direct the actors, and let the film roll while being in front of the camera, to the side of the camera, or in the back of the camera, even on the floor. As long as you can see the action, it doesn’t matter where you’re viewing it from. No physical act is required. I’d like to know what your opinion is about this.
Themocracy