Final Major Project: IoP Symposium Talk – Jenny Lewis – 19-02-18
Key points:-
Your own work is very important
When you work for brands you have to dilute yourself slightly to fit with what they want
Don’t wait for a commission – approach paper ets with a strong project ‘I have this amazing project and I think you should publish it’
Don’t be judgemental – aim for diversity and inclusion
Try to get work published on other blogs – it opens up a dialogue and questions
Arle is a good place to meet publishers – ‘Have you got time for a coffee? I would like to show you something.’
Always take screen grabs of emails, comments, followers, likes etc to show the interest in the project
Statistics back up projects
Not waiting for commissions and shooting own projects all the time makes it easier to shoot commercial work – camera becomes part of your body
Make dummy books to show people
Be flexible with publishers
Take all opportunities to give tlks or deliver workshops
Consider project audience – some things work better as an exhibition, some as books, some as zines etc
Self publishing – consider costs of over stock. Plus you are the marketer and the distributor.
Consider what the purpose of the project is. Is online the best place to reach more people?
Her advice is to not set out thinking about where the work will be published – it makes the images have more rawness and honesty as you are not always considering how they fit together. You have more energy for shooting.
Be passionate about the work and enjoy it.
Use peers to help edit the work
Involve a graphic designer – maybe a student?
Jenny’s work:-
Work in participant’s location
Have to work with whatever is in the environment
Need to capture what is there
She doesn’t take a lot of lights, she just works with available light
Can’t storyboard before shoot
Support for project through Instagram and a hashtag
Shares images the day she shoots them
Never intended a book – was aiming for a feature in a magazine
Actions Arising:-
Read “My Modern Met” blog
Consider use of a grphic designer
Contact Information:-
IG_jennylewis_