Goodbye Office, Hello World!

The first of April was a pretty significant date for The Collective Force. It was the official date on which I ceased to represent photographers so I could set up my folio consulting business.

My first task was to clear the remnants of the office from nooks and crannies not already dealt to by my wonderful assistant Caylie. 15 years of quotes, licences, model release forms, location pics, database information, business cards (oh so many business cards), old stationary, accounts records, calculators (where did all the calculators come from?), rulers (rulers?), contracts, filing cabinets, and I can’t even start to list the contents of the props and unit cupboards- I mean, how many cans of dulling spray does one need in life after a photographer’s agency?

After finally shifting all of this and the remnants of our furniture out of the lovely old Automatic Films building I started to feel some closure on that (rather long) chapter of my life.

And the thing is, it was actually not as awful as I thought it would be. In fact, for years I had been making excuses to myself for moving onto something else – How will I make money? (Not such a pressure now I don’t have overheads any more) What will the photographers do? (We’re all good mates- they still call and ask for advice and I’ve helped some of them find new agents) What about the staff? (So talented- every single one of them are all gamely employed)

As it happens, as well as consulting to photographers, I’ve also been helping ad agencies find photographers for campaigns. In fact, I am so busy the plans to renovate the house have been put on hold until I can find someone to do it for me.

I guess sometimes we convince ourselves that we can’t change. I am working with lots of photographers right now who are confronting change, and it’s a very exciting and inspiring time.