© Dick Sweeney, who shot the image above, is a photographer who isn't afraid to be honest, raw and poetic; the perfect example of an emotive photography brand.

The two Pauls

1 November, 2025

A thousand years ago, before websites did the heavy lifting, and phones were attached to cords, huge mountains of beautifully crafted folio boxes and bags, each one embossed with the name of a photographer or an agent, would sit stacked and toppling over by the reception desk in any half-decent ad agency.

Harassed, overworked art directors and art buyers (most likely the requestee of said folios) would have to begin a search through them all to find the right photographer for a brief. Ridiculously, all the books were inevitably black. (Whose idea was THAT??!!)

But if a red one or a white one, or a box instead of a bag, or ANYTHING different popped out I can guarantee it would catch their eye. (I know, as a rep I tested the theory.)

Of course it did. Creative decision makers are visual beings, like you.

The work in the folio would have been crucial to the decision making (still is, if you get to show yours.)

But the folio cover, or branding, is why they would pick up the book in the first place.

Fast forward back to 2025. Obviously folios are not your main marketing tool any more. And the cover of your folio for sure isn’t the summary of your brand.

But the importance of branding hasn’t changed. In fact it’s become even more important.

Why?

AI tools are being used to generate images. Social media content is king and and there is an avalanche of content being thrown at us from every direction every day.

It’s mayhem out there!

And yet:

You cannot and should not even attempt to compete with any of that, because that’s a fast leap to obliteration.

The only way to survive is to NOT be like all that mass manufactured ‘wallpaper’, which is easy to ignore, forget or scroll past.

Paul Arden, the legendary multi award winning ECD of Saatchis London, (from the folio-mountains-and-phones-with-cords days) wrote a fantastic book called ‘Whatever you think, think the opposite’. (Get it, it’s good. It STILL stands.)

The idea being that when everyone zigs, you zag.

In his article in Digital Camera World editor Paul May recently wrote:

 

‘The biggest mistake photographers are making right now is trying to compete with AI on AI’s terms. You’ll lose that battle every time. Instead, double down on everything that makes human creativity irreplaceable.

Push your artistic vision further. Develop signature styles that are unmistakably yours. Create work that moves people emotionally, not just technically.’

 

I love this. It speaks to everything I’ve built photographers careers around, back as a rep, and throughout my years as a consultant, but with a new, urgent underscore.

Don’t just listen to me though. Listen to the two Pauls. They know their stuff.

 

If you’re in Sydney on 11th November, I’m running a small, live in-person workshop, in which I’ll help you dig into your brand and everything which makes you uniquely you. Click here to get a ticket and find out more.