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Q "I am writing to you as a student of photography at City of Glasgow College in an attempt to glean some insight as to how you personally go about finding and continue to find, creative inspiration for your work."
The above is just an excerpt of a less-than-one-page email I wrote that included some references to her projects - esp Old Father Thames and Ophelia and another website detailed project.
There was no reply after 2 weeks, so I wrote again by email and also wrote shorter similar messages by Facebook and Instagram. This was just over a week ago, and I'm not sure whether to expect a restraining order in the coming days.
I have since written similar questions and also about funding from Nicky Bird and Margaret Mitchell. This was very recent so still awaiting feedback.

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Stewart Brydon

How do you cope with the pressure?

- sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you have wavering moments but I always say persistence is key. If you have a passion for the art of it, the sheer joy of the creative, you’ll keep going. All the other ***** like budgets come and go and come and go. If you get to the end of a shoot and you’re excited by what you e created that day. You’ll owe at it.

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Aims & Objectives for Industry & Enterprise 

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Aims & Objectives for Industry & Enterprise 

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Pushing myself outside my comfort zone, which this class was really about and got me to do

Idea of speaking to professional photographers was intimidating, but it has provided me with valuable knowledge and an insight into the industry. The opportunity to speak to photographers that I have followed for years, like Matthew Beedle (commercial/advertising) and Annabelle Breakey (food photographer) has been quite inspirational and gives me motivation keep to working towards my goal of working in the industry. Even after we complete the Industry & Enterprise class I still intend to reach out and contact other photographers

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Victoria Morton - We are advised to see outside of Glasgow and Scotland to make our job sustainable in the creative industries…

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Victoria Morton - We are advised to see outside of Glasgow and Scotland to make our job sustainable in the creative industries…

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It’s a different economy, there’s more money down there. Whatever you think about that… A gallery in London was interested in starting to show my work and she’s really good, it’s a really well-established gallery. That’s made a huge amount of difference to me because my friends here at the Modern Institute and then Sadie in London, that’s enough. There’s been times when I’ve not sold any work at all and I had just managed somehow and then there’s been times when suddenly lots of work sell and I feel like I’m quite rich and then it stops again, and then no work selling and then I have to save up for those times. I’m self-employed and I have to do my books and I’ve got an accountant and everything and they would quite often say to me ‘how can you promote your business and make it grow and all of that’ and I’m not very good at that. I don’t want to think of making my artwork as like a business but I do want to be able to make work and pay for my studio. Obviously I’m like a single parent now and I have to pay my mortgage and have money for bills and all of that so I really appreciate it when work sells because it gives me an income to enable me to live and to continue making my work so although the art market is a bit of a murky place, I think without that support of the galleries I would be struggling to make an income at all.

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I was interview Joanna Jankowska, Polish photographer, who creates images for book covers internationally but mainly for Polish market. 

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I was interview Joanna Jankowska, Polish photographer, who creates images for book covers internationally but mainly for Polish market. 

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SM: when you were younger was there someone who supported you or inspired you or protected your dream of becoming an actor and joining the creative industries

SKC: no one stood out starting off as a young angry Scottish actress in LA I was very much in the mindset of F**k the establishment and I was very much in my own mind. Perhaps the Scottish creative side from my grandfather Calum Kennedy went to me. I found from my early career my parents definitely wanted me to play the safe card and deal with the mundane trails and tribulations of the desk job but excuse me F**k that. However going from London to LA and back to settling in Glasgow I've definitely felt more grounded and supported here, both from friends family and the industry, however I have focused more on producing and bringing creatives together, debt get me wrong I love what acting has given me but I've found a new spark.

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What I asked Mark Mann was...

I follow your youtube channel Complicated Things and it has personally been very helpful throughout my learning into studio portraits, what possessed you to create complicated things?.

He said that he as incredibly flattered that, I was following his youtube journey and then explained that he loves creating the tutorials and videos but went on to say that he also hates it as it is a waste of time. However his cousin suggested due to the fact he was getting so many question on how he creates his work they both throughout and said f*ck it lets make a Youtube channel and put out content on studio tutorial's.

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Did you always wish to shoot commercial and advertising or did you start out doing another genre?

I can see that you have a pretty intricate set design, at your shoot for lush do you have a team of people who are there to build and design the set or do you help design the set?

Kind Regards, Kierian Patton

Hey Kierian,

Thanks for reaching out, and I hope you're enjoying the course.

I've always wanted to shoot commercial/ Advertising from the very start, within the genre of still life photography.

Regarding my sets, I'm always involved in how they will look, the photographer might not always have the final say, but we are one of the important voices in the room.

Hope this helps.

Best wishes

Antosh

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What is something that you wish you knew before starting out in the industry? As a freelance photographer, you have to be a mixture of so many things, a sales person, business person, admin and most importantly a people person. Communication is key, you can be the most talented photographer but if you can't sell yourself then you will miss out on jobs. I think I am still learning that, it was the biggest learning curve when I first went out on my own.  Assisting is a great way to get started too, I assisted for a while after college and it was really valuable.

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What would you say to an aspiring photographer who wants to find their place in the creative industry? Would you give any tips or advice?

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What would you say to an aspiring photographer who wants to find their place in the creative industry? Would you give any tips or advice?

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It depends on whether photography is to remain in the sphere of a hobby or is to be a future profession.

If it's the first - nothing limits you :) absorb, be perceptive, inspire yourself - watch as many photographs of each as possible, classics. Go to artist exhibitions, have contact with art. Buy a photo album from time to time. Make a mood board on Pinterest with inspiration - it helps a lot to find your way. First, it's great to choose your path, what turns you on the most in photography, whether creation or reportage, e.g., no (I've done weddings myself, totally not my thing).

Take as many pictures as possible, make mistakes, that's where you learn the most. Don't invest in an unknown amount of equipment, you don't need it. The simplest reflex camera and 50mm f.1/8 lens will be your friend :) learn the photoshop, it will be useful :) Now it's easier with everything, YouTube has countless tutorials, it's worth spending time on it :) but most of all have fun with it, let it be it will be fun :)

If the latter - iron 🤬, determination and fighting for your place among the competition and of course everything above, only on different terms ;).

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I heard that in the photography industry, 20% is photography and the rest is marketing. How does it look for you? How do you go about self-promotion?

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I heard that in the photography industry, 20% is photography and the rest is marketing. How does it look for you? How do you go about self-promotion?

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To tell the truth, very little of this marketing exists in my business, which may be surprising, but I've been extremely lucky and all my regular clients are by referral. Word of mouth still works great for me! I started collaborating with one girl by accident, she recommended me further and then it just happened. Marketing in general consumes a lot of time that I don't have, creating regular/interesting/inspiring content for Instagram or TikTok is extremely time-consuming... I know that I should put more time into it, but I haven't figured it out yet, to be honest, so that could run effectively, I would definitely need some help with this :D

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What else do you do apart from photography and retouching? Do you design book covers too?

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What else do you do apart from photography and retouching? Do you design book covers too?

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My work consists of 3 elements:

1. my original photos, which I provide to agencies for the publishing market <mainly book covers>

2. individual projects to order <such as orders from customers to create a specific photos, e.g. for a CD cover>

3. My main daily job is retouching and at the moment I would rather call myself a retoucher than a photographer, because it takes 90% of my time.

The funniest thing is that I have been retouching photos of newborns and children for several years, which is very different thematically from what I do in my photography, but I manage to combine it all together. First of all, it provides me with stable income and I have had regular clients for years for retouching, which is extremely important, because in my opinion the greatest amount of stress for freelancers is the unknown each month and whether these orders will be. Also, such comfort is extremely valuable if it is constant.

I don't deal with commissioned sessions anymore, mainly due to lack of time, so I leave all creative stories to myself when I'm making material for book covers :).

I mainly design the photo for the cover. When it comes to typography/work in InDesign and playing with typesetting/font, no, although I often made a preview of the cover photo with the selected font for the client (so that he could see the whole thing, not just the naked photo) and the projects went through, so it's very nice.

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Is it easy to be a freelancer in the creative industry? How do you get orders?

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Is it easy to be a freelancer in the creative industry? How do you get orders?

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I'm lucky because they find me :)
Is it easy, I think it's a very individual matter, very much depends on the artist's attitude. I've always wanted to have a profession on my own terms, decide for myself how much time I will devote to work, so I look at this issue from the position of a determined person and if we care, we will do everything to reach the goal :) Working on self-employment is not easy. Over the years, it has become overgrown with myths, or rather people's ideas about what it looks like, and in fact it is incommensurable with reality. I often come across opinions like "you can sleep until 11! You don't have to take a holiday! But I envy you!". Yes, but that's just a small part of my work. Running a sole proprietorship requires from me above all iron discipline, consistency, regularity, resourcefulness, the ability to work under time pressure, good organization ... I do everything myself and all the knowledge since I founded the company, i.e. already 7 years, came with experience and over time time. I think it's not easy, it can be bumpy, you have to have an iron 🤬 <especially in matters of changing tax law in Poland> but as I mentioned - as long as I care, I'm ready for hardships :). And creative work is a really interesting activity, not for everyone, not everyone will find themselves in this world.

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It's amazing that you have over 200 book cover publications to your credit. How did your first book cover come about?

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It's amazing that you have over 200 book cover publications to your credit. How did your first book cover come about?

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In college, together with my friend Wojtek, I started making the first covers <for the MAG publishing house>, for those times it was really good money and great experience <especially that we immediately got the opportunity to do a big project, which was a series of books by Charlaine Harris about the adventures of Sookie Stackhouse < heroines of the later hit HBO "True Blood">. Wojtek already had experience in cooperation with publishing houses, but also with foreign publishers/authors of books, it was a period when we were both building our portfolios, we were trying to get publications wherever possible <a bit of pushing each other through doors and windows>. He proposed to me that we create these covers for MAG together, so I came a bit ready, because he was already done solo projects for them. I am very grateful to him because I learned a lot of helpful things later. Cooperation with MAG lasted for a good 2-3 years, but when the project came to an end, we did not get any more orders.

I really wanted to go in this direction (to make photos for the covers), but the road to it was bumpy and required a lot of self-denial. I have been trying to establish cooperation with Polish publishing houses for more than a year, I wrote hundreds of e-mails, the response was rather weak, 3 publishers, in addition niche ones, responded. The stakes were tiny <which, compared to how much I was getting for a cover photo in MAG, was downright ridiculously funny> which pretty quickly put me upright. Imagining what this industry looks like and what it actually looks like are two different issues and it was a bucket of cold water. I knew that I wanted to go further in the photos, but there was a lot of tossing and ignorance, looking for a way a little blindly. Until a complete accident, I got from a friend an English-language book to read about the stock photography market, where I found information/addresses/names of places where you can try your luck. So far, my knowledge of stocks has been limited to photolias and the imagination that these are product photos from a shadowless tent. And it turned out that there are a number of stock agencies dealing with a more conceptual/creative approach to photography and I figured I'd give it a try. I applied for 2, I got in right away <which still astounds me, because looking back at my work I see a lot of technical shortcomings in them, although probably not big enough to not give me a chance :) >. And so it began and continues to this day. What a surprise it turned out to be later, when I started selling covers for the Polish market, to all those publishing houses where I was trying to make ends meet ;) It turned out that most of them, if not all of them, use such stock agencies instead of working exclusively with the artist. So a little bit around but finally we managed to have publications in Proszynski or in Świat Książki :)

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I asked Matt what pitfalls were there when looking to make a book with a niche subject?

This was all recorded and is on YouTube.

Matt basically said that it's not really worth doing. He explained about his experiences with this and how he thought it would sell well and it didn't. He also stated that for a £35 book he got £1.80 per copy sold! He also stated it didn't sell too well either, around 1700 copies out of 6k printed. That was in 2016.

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Q - How do you secure funding to continue to make projects ?

A - One honest answer to this, is the phrase your income stream is more like a mixed economy. For example I do have friends that are you know free lancers, in photography, video and that’s what they do all the time. So, what I’ve done though, obviously I’ve had a teaching background I’ve been involved in that sector, and that’s been my part time steady income, and then the other half of the week is your free lance stuff. However, that’s taken a while to get to get to that position, there is obviously plus points to that, but also negatives. But in terms of the photography side, where the funding has come from, it comes from multiple sources, for example, because my work belongs in the public sector I’m not selling prints, therefore I need multiple funding sources, eg, heritage Scotland, creative Scotland or other sponsorships. You need to move from that self initiative, and where you can apply to these funding areas to get the money to do projects you need to do. But that needs to cover, your free, materials, other people who are involved in the project, travel ?. In short, you need to have a mixed economy where your money comes in, aka you could freelance, your part time position and if you want ti start making serious projects apply for funding and sponcerships.

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Arpita Shah - What would you say to students now if they could take your advice for when they leave college?

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Arpita Shah - What would you say to students now if they could take your advice for when they leave college?

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When I graduated, I sent off some work to loads of curators and directors, like a mass email... Now in hindsight, I tell students to really research about curators and galleries that you’re getting in touch with, see what kind of work they show, what kind of project they support, and make very personal emails to specific organisations showing that you’ve done your research, why you think this project would be of interest. So catering your emails and not sending mass emails to everyone. Another thing is that Unseen festival is a great photography festival now in Amsterdam that I used to go to every September before I had children. I went to a talk there and a curator from East Wing Gallery said that sometimes people just want to show so they’ll send like six images and there won’t be a whole body of work for it so if you want to propose a show, do you have enough images to fill up the space for the curator to edit, things like that that I didn’t really know. Nowadays you have portfolio reviews, Format, for former graduates. You have to pay to get creative advice back, it’s like speed dating but with reviewers. I did a portfolio review with Nicola Shipley from Grain back in 2017 when I showed my project Purdah and through me showing that work we kept in touch and then she invited me to Birmingham and she commissioned me to make Modern Muse which is my current body of work, which is the work that got acquisitioned by Birmingham Museum. So it’s building those relationships, keeping people in the loop. You never know what you’re going to get out of these physical meetings. They’re so much better. And what’s great about portfolio reviews is that you get to pick who you want to see, so you can really research who’s going to be the best person for what you need. They will give you advice for when you’re developing work or they can connect you to venues or curators.

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Arpita Shah - Taking about funding personal projects...

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Arpita Shah - Taking about funding personal projects...

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A lot of my projects have been developed through artist residencies. When you do graduate, it’s really hard to self-fund projects. Looking at these residencies is like a nice package in which you get funding to make work, you get space to make the work and usually there’s always an outcome of the show so that’s really good. You keep your fingers dipped in the practice.

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Jack Davison - Any advice to young photographers?

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Jack Davison - Any advice to young photographers?

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You can never take enough pictures. You can only be taking more pictures. Don’t be afraid of doing commercial work and don’t stress if it goes wrong because no one will see it. No one will care. I really had jobs at the start that I thought would end my career and would be terrible but if you’re making up things, that’s what people will look at. Also, really focus on colour and really focus on digital because that’s what people are going to ask you to do. Black and white… it’s not that it’s easy but it does make things look nice. So make sure you’re focusing on your colour work and thinking about colours.

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Jack Davison - How do you combine commercial work with artistic work?

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Jack Davison - How do you combine commercial work with artistic work?

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That one is a constant battle to be honest. You kind of realise that different people, different companies want things completely different from you. Some people really want you to do your thing, like really make your work. Some companies want you at 20%, so you’re just essentially a name, but the more experience you get and the more stronger voices, I feel like people come to you more and more to do your thing. All of us do certain jobs to keep themselves alive and pay for stuff.

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How do you maintain this creativity and originality? How do you avoid burnout?

This is hard. Someone, somewhere, has probably done something similar, but you need to put your own spin onto it, making it tailored to you. Almost every time I opened TikTok, Instagram etc, there’s something creative there which will inspire me. I won’t lie - sometimes I screenshot or save these things because sometimes I come back to them, whether it’s for general inspo or for making a moodboard. I think moodboards are important because you can include numerous images and take some aspect from them but add your own personal touch. Then again, I can be inspired by random things which don’t include a screen like a walk, shopping etc.

Burnout is most definitely real. I think the only way to avoid is not pushing yourself to create when you aren’t feeling it. It will put you in a downer and sometimes it’s obvious you weren’t in the right mindset as the work won’t be as strong. Take time away, try not force yourself and do something else you enjoy.

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It is evident throughout your work your element of having a fine art background shines through your work, when was it clear you had built your own style of photography? Kirsty was surprised to hear this but thankful as it was not something she had considered before. She gave advice on creating a space for reflection and that time is now at university. You will create your style she said and this style will evolve throughout your own work. For her it was environmental shoots then this was followed up by shooting people and people within their environments. The Ballet and Swimming work are examples of this. Kirsty said she was also lucky enough to be able to travel the world with her job working at The Herald and shoot more documentary environmental work. Each experience will build your style she said.

As an established photographer are there ways you look to develop your own self promotion? Kirsty laughed and said this was one of her many New Year Resolutions. Update both instagram and website. Tiktok or other platforms are not something which she has tried and feels her client base has been something that has already been built up over time in other ways so branching out this way may not be of benefit to her. Kirsty is amazed to find out how many people contact her through her website also having a LinkedIn page has helped secure work too. She spoke of the shift in business cards and how people are asking for these at events nowadays. It is an important thing to have.

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Q: Any advice for an aspiring photographer that would like to start a business?

A: In all honesty find a friend in the business, someone that you can either help to shoot with when you need them say for example second shooting, but doing this by yourself would be so hard, so even having someone else who is doing photography and them own business to console to. We have a big network of photographers that we know and love and it’s all a big community. If you can get that behind, you you’ve got the support system in place if anything goes wrong to talk to them.

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Q: What did it feel like to revisit/ develop a project that meant so much to you (family/In this place?) ?

A:  It felt important to pick up on an earlier piece of work which had layers of meaning to explore and one where there were important social issues to address. This was both personal and political. You can also read my writing on this on the SNPG website: https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/features/photographing-family

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Do you research the musicians you are planning to shoot beforehand? if so, do you think this makes a difference?

If it's live, I don't so much research information about them but look for live videos on YouTube so I know what to expect from their stage presence. If I'm doing press shots for a band and the photos are to accompany a release, I get them to send me over the music they're planning to put out. I also look at their previous press shots and ask if they want something completely different or if my photos need to fit into their existing visual world. I always get them to send over some inspiration and let them know it can be as loose or specific as they like. It's really important to understand what a band want to communicate visually as often photos are a big factor in drawing someone in to listen to an artist.

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Alongside your commercial photography, you share quite a lot of personal work. How does your creative process differ from commercial to personal work/ do you work in a similar way?

‘No, not really, but I possibly should do. What I tend to do with that is just give yourself freedom to do whatever, I try to not think about it too much as I don’t want it to look like what I normally shoot’

‘Although it’s not a good thing my personal work is so different, as it should probably look like it could be adapted to be made into something. I want clients to look at my personal work more for them to think I’d like to put my perfume in that scenario, and that how personal should work. You should be creating something that you really want to do, and people come to you for that. I haven’t spent enough time on personal stuff.’

‘I’d say it’s more important long term, not short term, longevity, take a hit of jobs and money now, make your personal work so strong that people want to use you and have to use you and they want their product in your environment and that will give you more and more work. It will then bounce onto working better and onto better teams and your work will look even better.’