One of my favourite personal project briefs to photographers is to come up with a series which can be made whichever country you travel to, as well as right under your nose. It requires an overarching idea which ‘carries’ the project and shows that you’re able to travel and get consistent results. (I wrote about this here a while back)
Some photographers do the work. They find their ‘thing’ and start shooting. High achievers like Nicole England, who started photographing Resident Dog 6 years ago, has since had 2 books published and shot 2 new books last year. Talk about prolific!
But if you’re one of those photographers who has never quite figured out how to make a truly conceptual project, who defaults to photographing models or products and calling it ‘personal’, or who’s shooting randomly and sporadically, there are years going by when something powerful and engaging –and potentially getting you hired- could be getting made.
If that’s you, there’s no use beating yourself up (or burying your head in the sand).
You know you need to make more work with depth.
You know this will attract those higher end creative decision makers and help them want to work with you.
And you know you could have started earlier.
You probably already know this Chinese proverb too:
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.
The second best time is NOW.
It’s really not too late to start now.
Your ongoing personal project(s), your marketing, and your client outreach can all start today. Because they’re all connected.
Whatever the year, month, day or time, you’ve got this!
If you need help making a personal project with depth this is a quick heads up that we have 1 place available on The next Series Project, shooting in May. Applications for that place close this Tuesday 4th March as we’re booking the hotel now.
The programme will help you craft, shoot & share a powerful, inspiring project with story and depth in 6 weeks. 5 weeks online. 1 week on location in Istanbul.
You can find out more here: https://christinaforce.net/
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