livebooks blog

Wetlands in Alberta, Canada. ©Garth Lenz

One constant during the course of my career has been a close association with environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs). As an environmental photojournalist, motivated by a deep concern for the environment and the need to protect intact wilderness, working closely with committed activists and knowing that my images will play a significant role in their efforts has been one of the most rewarding and inspiring aspects of my work. I believe this has been a mutually beneficial relationship. My images have helped to shape public opinion and provided organizations with the material they need to advocate in a visually compelling way. In many situations, ENGOs have very graciously credited my work as being instrumental to their successes. In turn, the knowledge and contacts provided by ENGOs has greatly assisted in my understanding of these issues and has provided critical knowledge of various locales as well as the logistical support so important to successful fieldwork.

On occasion, groups have also directly commissioned me to produce imagery, and I have also raised money independently to undertake projects in order to furnish ENGOs with the images they need. Many of my most interesting and long-term projects have been possible only as a direct result of my longstanding relationship with these groups.

I have also given a number of visual presentations and tours in order to build support for some of the issues I have photographed and feel particularly strongly about. This has provided me with the opportunity to directly share my images with a large cross-section of people. Their feedback and response has helped me better understand the power of certain kinds of images, and that has been a great asset in my field work.

While my work with NGOs has mostly been with ENGOs, I think that any photographer whose work is devoted to promoting positive change, whether in environmental, humanitarian, or other issues would greatly benefit from a close relationship with NGOs dedicated to furthering these same goals.

©SAS Becker

4. What are some ideas for what a photographer’s initial marketing push might look like, considering things such as re-branding, making new contacts, and re-energizing old ones.

I think (and many others would probably agree) that a photographer’s most important tool is their website, so start there. Look at a bunch of websites. (Here’s mine.) What do you like — or hate for that matter. Check out ProPhotoResource.com. They have a lot of valuable information on do’s and don’t for websites. What is your look? How do you describe your work?

Once your site is completed, decide what the best way is to get as much traffic to it as possible. Online advertising and print ads are favorites. What about your local markets? Can you do a joint advertising project with local vendors? Maybe some cross-marketing with the local florist and bakery? Provide free pictures for a photo credit at places such as schools, churches, doctors offices, even the YMCA; anything might lead to work. I volunteered to shoot my daughter’s Girl Scout dance held at her elementary school. It may not have been the most glamorous event, but those girl scouts sure love pictures of themselves. It drove a ton of potential clients to my site, and I looked like a super mom at the same time. Unlike commercial photography, portrait and wedding work touches everyone. Everyone has a family and will at some point know or be a bride. So carry lots of cards in your pocket, and get out there!

Students at the National Geographic Photo Camp in Rajasthan, India, learning to use a camera for the first time. © Ed Kashi

1/5/09

The first day of the workshop was frustrating due to a selfish teaching assistant. I was tired and cold and wanted to go home. Until then the workshop had not been satisfying; the kids were too timid, unengaged with us, and the conceit of the structure of the workshop began to show through for me. The power and importance of education is what I learn from these experiences, not always smooth or easy.

This workshop was a challenge, to bridge the gaps between us and the students, as well as between the city and rural kids. By day three the magic had begun, with the shy and nervous rural kids finding their voices and comfort levels, expressing themselves more openly to the instructors as well as their urban workshop mates. Likewise, the city kids began to shed their pretensions and superiority complexes, opening up and letting themselves just have fun.

By the end of the workshop the kids had made new friends, the shy had come out of their shells and the smart city kids had shown tremendous teamwork and supported their non-English-speaking rural peers. It was heart warming to see how well the two groups coalesced to support one another, had fun by sharing music and other teenage things, and ultimately moved past their previous stereotypical impressions of one another. Breaking down barriers is what this workshop and my life are dedicated to.

During the workshop’s graduation ceremony, my team of 5 students created and presented me with a poster; I’ve included a few of my favorite comments from it below. I love the first one, written by a stick-thin and very shy village girl named Deepika, who was crying the first day trying to hold a camera to her face and close one eye, something we photographers take for granted but for her was an impossibly weird and discomfiting thing to do.

Deepika…“I like your nature and behavior. I love the way you talk. We were able to learn lot from you and I even like you.”

From another student…“You teach us really nicely. You are very joyful person, which keep us energetic.”

Darhmendra….”I love your style of photography and how you solve our problems.”

"Hay Bales" © Brian Kosoff

At the end of my last post I had decided to close my studio. I open this post with the admission that I’m glad I did! I still keep in touch with many of my old clients and studio-mates, but talking to them about work is not a cheery walk down memory lane — it’s a bummer. Fewer and fewer photographers have their own studios. The majority share, but in cramped conditions. Now you’ll find five photographers sharing 2,000 square feet: a ratio likely to create stress and conflict. Some photographers I know shoot family portraits for the general public, something that would have been embarrassing for them to pursue ten years ago.

My work is much more solitary now and I miss the camaraderie of other photographers, assistants, and stylists (and the catered lunches!) that I had in the studio. Sometimes I don’t speak with anyone in person, except a motel clerk, for months. I joke that when I get back home from one of my trips, I hand my wife a credit card and ask for a non-smoking room. Still, I consider myself very fortunate. On an almost daily basis I get to see some truly magnificent sights and I get to drink some of the best and worst road coffee out there. (Best: ANY Scandinavian country. Worst: the U.S.).

"Dune Silhouette" © Brian Kosoff

As for my landscape photography, it’s still a work in progress. I‘m relatively new to it, and while it didn’t take too long to master the technical aspects, I’m still trying to figure out why I’m drawn to certain subjects. It took me a while to realize that my fondness for a minimal style, often having a center oriented composition and a high-key or white background, was a direct result of having spent more than 20 years shooting minimal, center oriented, often white background product photographs. I guess that even when you change directions, you still carry some of the momentum from your earlier motion.

Change is inevitable and it’s often feared, but I consider my change from advertising to landscape photography an opportunity. For me now, my work is more satisfying than ever, and life is simpler. That’s a change for the better.