Everyone has been talking about Dolly Parton, but whilst listening to the many podcasts and rehashed interviews, I realised that she’s an incredible example of a powerful creative brand, both in her visual identity, and in the way she communicated and ran her business.

Now more than ever, your brand is about far more than your photography and directing: those skills are the bottom line. You get hired for who you are, how you communicate and how you show up on the job. And Dolly’s brand encompassed all this and more. Here are three key things I think all photographers (anyone creative in fact) can learn from Dolly.

1. She built a strong brand

We all know Dolly’s signature trailer-trash aesthetic and the other aspects of her brand DNA: distinct unusually high-pitched voice, warm and empathic personality and sharp, self-deprecating humour. (“It costs a lot to make a person look this cheap.”)

If you’re not clear on your brand DNA: the look and feel of your work, the way you approach the job, the things you care about and your chief motivators – in essence, the human stuff – you run the risk of becoming invisible. What makes you unique?

2. She set goals and went after them

Right from when she was young, Dolly wrote secret ‘dream’ lists with 5-7 year goals on them, which by her own admission had a ‘voodoo-like’ success rate. She listed all the TV shows she could appear on, and interviews she could try to get. She listed trusted brands, musicians and production companies she could partner with. And then she made it happen. She was unstoppable!

One of the things I always ask photographers is to consider their dream shoot day, or job, including what the clients, creatives, locations, crew, and all the other aspects of the production would look like. It’s astonishing how effective it is to write down specifics and give yourself a deadline to achieve that.

3. She rolled with the punches

It can be extremely vulnerable to be a lens-based image maker. Rejection is real. AI is real. Crap economies are real. But understanding that it’s often nothing to do with you, having the resilience to pick yourself up after a setback, and using humour and empathy as much as possible are all ways to preserve your sanity.

And making personal work which responds to difficult challenges and situations is a brilliant way to move on and express yourself by doing what you do best.

In 2014, at the age of 68, Dolly said, ‘Adjusting to the passage of time I think is a key to success and to life, just being able to roll with the punches’.

Godspeed Dolly.

© Cybele Malinowski turned what was going to be an LA – Vegas road trip into an extraordinary project called Deep Fake, a comic/ tragic docu-fashion story of lookalikes in Vegas. 

It might not be something which shows up all the time, but if this happens to you it can feel like a struggle to succeed as a commercial photographer, no matter how amazing your work is.

So much of the job involves communication, meeting with people who seem terribly confident, and leading entire productions which involve telling folk what to do. Holding firm boundaries, especially with the people actually paying you to do the job can be particularly challenging, but is so essential.

That’s why I always ask photographers about the size and type of job they enjoy working on. Big productions are not for everyone.

Some photographers like a lot of client trust and space to be nimble, so they can work on assignments which allow them to make creative decisions and well, just get on with it. They often work alone or with one or two trusted assistants.

But there are times when the perfect brief arrives, and it involves stepping way out of your comfort zone and into shoes which feel far bigger than you’re used to.

You know you can do the job, but the people! OMG! 

If that’s you, here are three things to consider:

1. The people behind brands are just people.

They’re humans with all sorts of flaws, just like you. When you get a brief which scares the bejesus out of you, do the research. Instead of worrying about a briefing meeting with the ECD of a global brand in New York, uncover the guy who is obsessed with lego, is addicted to tacos, and has a pug dog named Willie. Suddenly you’ll feel less intimidated. If you dig around enough, you might even discover you have something in common.

2. Surround yourself with good people.

Crew who’ll support you to get on with it whilst helping your clients feel cared for. A producer who will run the show in the way you need them to, from whoa to go. And if that’s creating space between you and the clients on set so you can focus on the job at hand, that’s your prerogative. After all, everyone’s there to get the best results possible. Focus on those (and talking taco with your new found ECD buddy), and you’ll be just fine.

3. Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not.

Be honest when you’re building your brand. It’s tempting to try to make out that you’re a super confident rockstar, but far better to manage expectations, and own your own strengths. Check your website bio and the stories you tell in your Email blasts (you do have one don’t you?) and make sure they’re painting the right picture of the person who’s going to show up for the job (oh, hello, that’s you). That quiet, empathic demeanour could be exactly what a job requires. I have seen many briefs which require sensitivity and gentleness, and it’s often one of the deal breakers too.

If you have a strong understanding of your own brand, and thus the type of people you are looking to work with, you can then align your online presence to speak to them. If you get it right, they’ll be rooting for you right from the get go.

It’s given my brain an onslaught of lovely fresh photography. But it’s also reminded me that, whether they win awards or not, a LOT of personal projects never really get seen.

I often speak to photographers with a gorgeous series (or three) still sitting on a hard drive a year after they were made, waiting for a simple grade. Or who’ve won awards but not gotten around to sharing the news.

Even if you’re someone who shares every win on social media, you might still struggle to get noticed.

In fact, if you’re not putting your work in front of creative decision makers in multiple ways (including those monthly emails you keep meaning to send) you might as well be hiding under a rock.

The photographers I see getting regular jobs and building long-term client relationships don’t post a few images on Instagram and hope for the best (or leave them sitting on a hard drive).

They’re constantly talking about their work, sharing it with the right people, and resurfacing it again and again across different platforms.

And if you’re not doing this, what’s stopping you?

I hear all sorts of reasons.

“I’m too busy.” (Usually working on the jobs that bore you senseless.)

“It’s too cringey.”

But if you dig deep, it nearly always comes back to one thing.

FEAR.

Fear of rejection. Fear of being exposed. Fear of being vulnerable. And perhaps most of all, fear of being visible.

If you want to succeed as a lens-based image maker today, you can’t hide behind the camera forever. Your work deserves to be seen, and so do you.

I know you’ve made amazing work. Now make sure the right people see it.

• EGYPT
• TOKYO
• ALASKA

It sounds so exotic and farawayish…but actually- does it?

Nope.

To advertising creatives, it’s like landing on a Getty library or yet another amateur travel bloggers site. And that is at best boring, and at worst terrifying.

Before you know it they’ve scurried onto the next website leaving a smattering of desert dust in their wake, without so much as opening the project.

Why?

Because people in the ad world are always hopping on and off flights to far flung places to oversee photoshoots and TV spots. And if not, they’re paid well enough to go themselves (probably with their fancy camera). They are often very well travelled and I personally know some who roll their eyes at getting on yet another plane to another destination for the next job.

This is always dependent on where they’re based (and why you should always try to understand your specific target audience), but in general, here are 3 super important things you should know about making and sharing ‘travel’ personal projects:

1. Unless you’re literally an editorial travel photographer don’t use the word ‘travel’ as a category name, especially in the ad world.
2. Give every personal project a title that creates curiosity and earns the click. Don’t tell them where it was shot. Make them want to discover it.
3. Plan beforehand and find something that resonates with you personally about the place. Then create a project around that. (OK so it’s Alaska, but what do you want to say about Alaska?)
4. Consider looking for common themes in your personal travel work and recreating projects with an international theme, one which transcends place. You can read more about being an international photographer here

Your opinion matters much more than your itinerary, especially now.

Football was an obsession in my family. As a kid my dad used to drag the TV into the garden on an extension lead and watch the world cup with a sun hat and a glass of pop. The kitchen was even painted in Sunderland colours. (There, I said it. Utterly embarrassing. My poor long-suffering mother.)

Even if you’re not a football fan (and for the record, I am not – see above trauma), it’s hard to escape it right now.

Brands certainly don’t.

Major sporting events are gold for advertisers. Agencies spend months planning campaigns around them, and even if you weren’t one of the many photographers shooting football-related work over the past year, you’ve almost certainly seen it.

Like football, marketing is highly tactical.

Photographers who stay top of mind and get hired to work on the next big campaign think the same way.

• They were photographing promising young footballers years before they became household names.
• They were making football-related personal work a year ago so they’d be top of mind when the commissions came in.
• They’ve been sharing those commissioned campaigns as the tournament has unfolded.
• They’re using personal work, flashbacks and previous campaigns to join the conversation too (whatever their viewpoint – FIFA isn’t exactly without controversy).

As the celebrations and commiserations settle, what can you do now to become part of the conversation?

And if footy isn’t your thing, what matters to your target audience over the next year or two? What events, conversations or trends can you start building work around now?

This was a discovery call I had with a very established advertising photographer based in LA last week. He was beside himself with worry.

The day before I met with a photographer who hasn’t stopped shooting in months. Ad agencies and brands from from LA and Sydney are hiring him for his take on automotive and sport campaigns, and he was squeezing in agency meetings between gigs.

To confuse matters completely, a UK photographer who, 3 months ago, was ready to pack it all in and get a new career (Armageddon!!!) told me yesterday he’d just had his busiest quarter EVER.

Yes it’s crazy out there, and the roller coaster has become more extreme. That can be extremely discombobulating, and I completely understand that persevering isn’t for everyone.

But if you’re prepared to ride it out, there are ways to make the lows more manageable.

1. Get perspective

When you’re panicking, or focusing on all the things that are going wrong or not happening, you are probably missing opportunities because you’re looking the wrong way.

Take some time to step back, think big, and revisit what you want to do and love doing. Perspective is what you need when you’re overwhelmed with work or floundering in drought. It might just point you in the direction of something you haven’t thought of, or wake you up to something exciting right under your nose.

2. Create and make personal projects

Now’s the time to make work with a strong opinion and voice, and I truly believe it shouldn’t cost a fortune. If you’re quiet, use your time wisely. Develop a real idea and watch all the options unfold. Create a treatment and share it with possible collaborators. Get your agent or producer on board. Get publications and even brands interested. Having true purpose behind your ideas will actually make it MORE inspiring.

3. Batch your marketing

Research (or revisit) your target audience. Claude is your friend here.

Make sure your online presence is speaking the right language for the people who might want to hire you. Update the images on your website. Write a series of shorter email newsletters instead of one huge update every six months. Repurpose them into social posts. Write your personal outreach emails. Send your print pieces. Get in front of creative decision makers, photo editors and potential clients. Share your personal project ideas.

If you can fill the troughs with fresh, confident activity, you’ll be in a much stronger position when the peaks arrive. And it all starts with stepping back and gaining a little perspective.

The fact is lens based image makers who keep moving are the ones I see coming out stronger – and your next opportunity (whatever that is for you) may be much closer than you think.

We were already on the plane and the pilot initially chuckled as he explained the delay to departure. He wasn’t laughing 2 hours later, when we were asked to offboard the plane, but he and the crew never stopped updating us.

As you know spanners (or sparrows) in the works can happen to anyone, no matter how up to date your equipment and processes, how skilled your crew are, and however well you plan.

The weather can crap out, kit can fail, clients can throw hissy fits or change the brief, memory cards can corrupt, crew (including you) can get sick, permits can fall over and tech can do all sorts of ridiculous things. I’ve seen every one of these (and many more) happen first hand. Some are production headaches, but the buck almost always stops with you.

Lens based image makers who get repeat work are often the ones who can deal with whatever is thrown at them (and an excellent producer helps too).

They stay calm.

They take stock of the situation.

They think through solutions.

And they’re excellent at communicating those options – and more importantly why – to everyone who needs to know.

In fact communication is everything (assuming you are a good photographer, and that’s a prerequisite in my world) because you’re not just selling a completed piece of work. You’re selling your ability to interpret a brief, collaborate with the creative and their producer, communicate to their client, and manage untold situations whilst keeping your cool.

The same applies to your marketing. Through your Emails, social media and even personal projects you have a wonderful opportunity to show how you think, work and communicate and that’s gold. Because your target audience want to know they’re in safe hands, even when the sparrows hit the fan.

The five Southeast Asian women featured in this exhibition are all using art to communicate singular political and social messages. There’s no fluff. It’s opinionated, purposeful work that isn’t actually so different from great advertising, though admittedly far more altruistic.

Last week in Chiang Mai, seven photographers on our Series Project workshop did the same (and yes, it’s officially a wrap).

Traditional subjects including Thai street sports, Buddhist nuns, opium farming, Muay Thai boxing, cockfighting, Chiang Mai silk and tattoo artists became vehicles to explore ideas around transition, impermanence, spirituality and ritual.

When these projects are shared, as they soon will be, they’ll serve as a powerful reminder to advertising creatives that their makers are not simply talented photographers. They are collaborators who understand how to communicate an idea, which matters enormously when so much of your job involves interpreting a brief, building a treatment and executing it with clarity.

Photo reps often ask me to help their photographers develop these skills because it remains one of the hardest parts of transitioning into advertising from other genres. It is also, I believe, one of the reasons good advertising photographers continue to be among the strongest in their craft.

So if you’re developing a personal project right now, think about this approach:

1. Start with what genuinely interests you.
2. Get clear on your perspective.
3. Decide how you want to communicate it.

Your perspective is your advantage. Use it!

(Perhaps that resonates with you)

There are a few key differences between those worlds, and one of them can be a bit of a sticking point:

When you’re used to capturing stories, particularly for editorial and content assignments, you can rely on groups of work to do the job. A scene-settling image of the place. A portrait of the person in said place. A few captured moment in-the-flow images. A detail.

You have the luxury of multiple images to build the story and provide context.

But in the ad world, and even for singles and covers in the editorial world, there’s often call for ONE image which must do all the heavy lifting; it must encompass an entire idea, and if it’s a campaign, it will only ever be seen in separate locations.

That’s why when I review (or Blitz) photographer’s work, I start by identifying the heroes; the images that will do this job, and stand alone without support images, regardless of where they’re seen.

The hero image must stop me in my tracks, move me, and convince me, without an explanation.

There’s nothing wrong with a series of images. In fact I advocate all the time that photographers shoot bodies of cohesive work which tell a compelling story, especially in their personal projects.

But even then, I always insist on establishing the hero images before editing them together. There’s noting worse than a ‘transitional’ image which tells a story but let’s down the quality of the series (I see this all the time when I’m judging).

So, if you’re editing your work to share with people in the ad world, or you want to be noticed by judges and curators, don’t forget the power of each individual photograph.

We ended up sitting with him every afternoon for a month. (That’s so typical of my strong spirited dad).

I kept my sanity by working. Not burying myself in admin (note my marketing reduced to zero) but by working with photographers, editing their work, uncovering their essence and digging into what makes them tick. Doing the bits of my job I love.

I’d emerge from an edit newly renewed, with a smile on my face and the emotional strength to keep on keeping on.

It’s what we all do isn’t it?

Life events and times of crisis can have a different effect on everyone.

Maybe you’re the kind of photographer who is paralysed by situations like this and you can’t go near your camera. (Sometimes once you’re through the crisis you can throw yourself back into work with even greater gusto and creativity.)

Maybe you use the camera as a meditative tool, allowing it to help distract you.

Perhaps it’s the perfect vehicle to help you channel your emotional journey into something tangible, manageable.

For me, there is almost nothing that lights me up more than the core work I do – and that’s where I channelled my energy.

I am back in New Zealand now for a month before I head off to Chiang Mai, Thailand, for a personal project workshop which begins this week online.

Eight photographers making new personal projects with depth. For them I know this process will distract them from the stress of everyday life with family, and transport them into new ways of thinking about their craft.

For me, Chiang Mai will allow me to combine my two great loves, working with photographers and continuing my dad’s legacy – a passion for exploration and travel. I’ll even bring his walking boots.