QUESTIONS FROM A COLLEGE STUDENT

14Jul09

I received an email/questionnaire last week from a college student Jeff White. Jeff is attending Montgomery College in Maryland and he hopes to attend The Corcoran College of Art & Design after getting his Associates Degree. He is currently in a class called “The Business of Photography” where they are encouraged to cold call or email Art Directors, Art Buyers and Photo Directors and ask them a series of questions. The students are trying to learn a little bit more about the business and get a better perspective of our expectations when we hire a photographer. I thought that this interview might be helpful to others, here is an excerpt.

JW: How do you prefer that photographers first get in touch with you? By an email with an image, with a mailed promo card, with a link to a website, with a phone call? some other way?

CM: I prefer to receive an image that is also a link to their site. I also check magazines and photography blogs to stay connected. Photographers that have blogs update their blogs with recent shoots and personal projects, here are a few examples:

Steve Giralt: Facebook Project in B&W

Sharon Montrose: More Preston

Kwaku Alston: Real Simple 8×10

In the photo blogging world photographers have a great sense of community and are promoting each other as well:

Amy Stein: A Few Questions for Stacy Arezou Mehrfar

Andrew Hetherington: Le Tour de Humphreys

JW: Once a contact has been established, how do you prefer that photographers update you on what they are doing? and how often?

CM: I like when photographers send me new work or personal projects, how often depends on how busy they are but once a week is too often to email.

JW: What kind of portfolios do you prefer to see? A portfolio book, a custom-printed bound book, a box of prints, a web portfolio, etc?

CM: I prefer to review work on the photographer’s site, I rarely call in the portfolios but I do not like a box of prints, it’s my least favorite type of portfolio and the work usually gets destroyed from handling the prints.

JW: Do you prefer to meet the photographer on a portfolio visit, or do you prefer to have the portfolio dropped off or shipped to your office? Do you fill out response cards in portfolios, if present?

CM: I always prefer to meet photographers in person and I’ve never had a response card come with a portfolio.

JW: Do you keep a file of good promo cards and/or a website list?

CM: I used to keep a file of promo cards but there were too many so I sent them to my old photography program for them to learn from. I keep photographer’s sites bookmarked by genre and I have a folder of Reps. I keep the bookmarks on Delicious so I can always get to them.

JW: What usage rights do you typically purchase? One-time, extended use, web use, combination usage, all rights, etc?

CM: Every project is different and the usage changes by project per the Client’s needs. The factors we take in to account for usage are the term, territory and media. Here’s a sample usage…One year unlimited exclusive N. American consumer print, trade print, collateral, POP, OOH (billboards, wild postings, transit ads) and internet from the date of first use 9-1-2009.

JW: Do you typically have photographers create estimates for non-editorial assignments? Do you typically have photographers bid against each other for a particular project? If yes, what are the most important criteria for your selecting one over another? Price, or other factors as well? Such as…?

CM: Photographers always submit estimates for jobs and for most of the Clients I work with I have to triple bid jobs. When bidding a job the important factors that are take in to account are the art director’s creative preference, the photographer’s approach and the budget.

JW: If an estimate is used, agreed to, and signed by both parties, do you regard this as a legal contract?

CM: When I receive an estimate I then put it in an agency format for the Client to review. Once the Client approves the estimate I issue an agency purchase order to the photographer or rep and both parties sign the purchase order.

JW: On digital assignments, do you typically just ask for all the original image files, or do you prefer that the photographer sends you an edited selection?

CM: All the assignments that I work on are digital, usually the timing is so tight that we’re making selects with the photographer on set. If that doesn’t happen I prefer to receive all images with the photographer’s selects noted. This is helpful so the art director can go through the rest if the photographer’s selects don’t work with our layout.

JW: On large jobs with high expenses, are you OK with paying an advance, typically 1/3 of the estimate?

CM: On a large job it is typical to pay a cash advance but every agency is different and in this economy it is tricky for some agencies. I typically ask accounting for a 50% advance on the job to be delivered before the shoot. There are a few articles out there about the cash advance situation in advertising, here’s one: http://creativity-online.com/?action=news:article&newsId=135192&sectionName=ad_critic_news

JW: Do you typically pay the total within 30 days of receiving the invoice?

CM: When a final invoice comes in I have to review all the back-up for accuracy and then it goes to accounting for payment. Every agency has different payment timing but the final payment usually doesn’t come within 30 days.

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